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ESSAYS

MORAL, ECONOMICAL,

AND

POLITICAL.

BY

FRANCIS BACON,

BAROX OF VERULAM,VISLOUNT ST. ALBANS;

AND

LorA High Chancellor of England.

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION

BOSTON :

PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH GUEENLEAF.

NO. 49, COR\riILL,

1807.

OLirSR i^ MVSROE, PRl.\rEJlf,

Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive

in 2009 witii funding from

University of Toronto

Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/1807essaysmoral00baco

SKETCH

OF

THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

Francis bacon, Baron of Verulam, Vis=
count of St. Albans, and in the reign of James I.
lord high chancellor of England, one of the most
illustrious ornaments ofhisage, and among the
moderns the first great reformer of philosophy,
was born m London oa the 2 2d of January, 1561.
He was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keep-
er of the great seal, and of Anne, daughter of Sii-
Anthony Cook, eminent for her skill in the Latia
and Greek languages. His childhood afforded
strong indications of a vigour of intellect above
the common level. When queen Elizabeth asked
him how old he was, he readily and smartly re-
plied, " Just two years younger than your maj-
esty's happy reign." The queen was so well
pleased with this sprightly compliment from a
child, that she afterwards frequently amused her-
self with talking with him, and asking him ques-
tions, and pleasantly called him her young lord
keeper. At the age of 13 he was entered a stu-
dent at Trinity -college, Cambridge ; and made

IV

such incredible progress in his studies, that, be-
fore he was 15, he had not only run through the
whole circle of the liberal arts as they were then
raught, but began to perceive those imperfections
in the reigning philosophy, which he afterwards
so effectually exposed, and thereby not only over-
• urned that tyranny which prevented the prog-
ress of true knowledge, 'but laid the foundation
of that free and useful philosophy which has
tinc! opened a way to so many glorious discove-
lies. On his leaving the university, his father
'^cnt him to France ; where, before he wcio 1^
years ofage, he wrote a general view of the state
of Europe : but Sir Nicholas dying, he was
obliged suddenly to return to England ; when he
applied himself to the study of the common law,
at Gray*s Inn. At this period the famous Earl
of Essex, who could distinguish merit, and who
passionately loved it, entered into an intimate
friendship with him ; zealously attempted, though
v/ithout success, to procure . him the office of
queen's solicitor j and, in order to comfort his
friend under the disappointment, conferred on
him a present of land to the value of 1 8001. Ba-
con, notwithstanding the friendship of so great a
person ; notwithstanding the number and power
of his own relations; and, above all, notwith-
standing the early prepossession of her majesty

in his favour, met with many obstacles to his
preferment during her reign. In particular, his
enemies represented him as a speculative man,
whose head was filled with philosophical notions,
and therefore more likely to perplex than for-
ward public business. It was not without great
difficulty that lord treasurer Burleigh obtained
for him the reversion of register to the star-
chamber, worth about 16001. a year, which place
fell to him about 20 years after. Neither did he
obtain any other prefeinnent all this ^reign ;
though if obedience to a sovereign in what must
be the most disagreeable uf all offices, \ li:. the
casting reflection on a deceased friend, entitled
him, he might have claimed it. The people
were so clamorous even against the Queen her-
self on the death of Essex, that it was thought
necessary to vindicate the conduct of the admin-
istration. This was assigned to Bacon, which
brought on him universal censure, nay his very
life was threatened. Upon the accession of King
James, he was soon raised to considerable honor ;
and wrote in favour of the union of the two king-
doms of Scotland and England, which tlie king
so passionately desired. In I6I6, hewas sworn
of the privy-council. He then applied himself
to the reducing and recomposing the laws of
England. He distinguished himself when a{-
A 2

Vi

tomey -general, by his endeavours to restrain the
custom of duels, then very frequent : and, in
1617, was appointed lord keeper of the great
seal. In 1618, he was made lord chancellor of
England, and created Lord Verulam. In the
midst of these honours and applauses, and multi-
plicity of business, he forgot not his philosophy ;
but, in 1620, published his great work entitled
Noruum Organum. We find by several letters of
his, that he thought convening of parliaments
was the best expedient for the king and people.
In 1621, he was advanced to the dignity of Vis-
count St. Albans, and appeared Tvhh tlie greatest
splendour at tlie opening of the session of parlia-
ment. But he v/as soon after surprized with a
melancholy reverse of fortune. For, about the
I2th of INIarch, a committee of the house of com-
mons was appointed to inspect the abuses of the
courts of justice. The first thing they fell upon
was bribery and corruption, of which the lord
chancellor was accused. For that very year
complaints being made to the house of commons
of his lordship's having received bribes, those
complaints were sent up to the house of lords ;
and new ones being daily made of a like nature?
things soon grew too high to be got over. The
Xing found it was impossible to save both his
chancellor, who was openly acQUsed of cwrup*

Vll

lion, and Buckingham, his favourite, who was se-
cretly and therefore more dangerously attacked
as the encourager of whatever was deemed most
illegal and oppressive^ , He therefore forced the
former to abandon his defence, giving him posi-
tive advice to submit himself to his peers, and
promising upon his princely word to screen him
in the last delerminalionj or, if that could not be,
to reward him afterwards v. iti) ample retribution
of favour. The chancellor, though he foresaw
his approaching ruin if he did not plead for him-
self, resolved to obey ; and the house of peers,
on the 3d of May, i03i, gave judgment against
him, " That he should be fined 40,0001. and re-
main prisoner in the tower during ihe King's
pleasure ; that he should for ever be incapable
of any office, place, or employm^ent, in the state
or commonwealth ; and that he should never sit
in parliament, or come within the verge of the
court," The fault which, next to his ingrati-
tude to Essex, thus tarnished the glory of this
illustrious man, is said to have principally pro-
ceeded from an indulgence to his servants, who
made a corrupt use of it. One day, during his
trial, passing through a room where several of
bis domestics were sitting, upon their rising up
to salute him, he said, " Sit down, my masters ;
your rise hath been xny fall.'* Stefihensy^, 54>,

VIM

And we are told by Rushworth in Iiis historical
collections, " That he treasured up nothing for
himself or family, but was over-indulgent to his
servants, and connived at their takings, and their
ways betrayed him to that error ; they were pro-
fuse and expensive; and had at their command
whatever he was master of. The gifts taken
were for the most part for interlocutory orders ;
his decrees were generally made with so much
equity, that though gifts rendered him suspect-
ed of injustice, yet never any decree made by
him was reversed as unjust." It was peculiar to
this great man (say the authors of the Biogr.
Brit.) to have nothing narrov/ and selfish in his
composition : he gave away without concern
whatever he possessed ; and believing other
men of the same mould, he received with as little
consideration. He retired, after a short imprison-
ment, from the engagements of an active life, to
which he had been called much against his ge-
nius, to the shade of a contemplative one, which
he had always loved. The King remitted his
fine, and he was summoned to parliament in tlie
first year of King Charles I. It appears from
tlie works composed during his retirement, that
his thoughts were still free, vigorous, and noble.
The last five years of his life he devoted wholly
to his studies. In his recess he composed th^

greatest part of his English and Latin works.
He expired on the Sth of April, 1626 ; and was
buried in St. Michael's church at St. Albans, ac-
cording to the direction of his last will, where a
monument v/as erected to him by Sir Thomas
Meautys, formerly his secretary, and afterwards
clerk of the privy council under two kings. A
complete edition of this great man*s works was
published at London, in the year 1740. Addi-
son has said of him, " That he had the sound,
distinct, comprehensive knowledge of Aristotle,
with all the beautiful light graces and embellish"
ments of Cicero." The honourable Mr. Wal-
pole calls him the Profihet of Jrts^ which New-
ton v/as afterwards to reveal ; and adds, that his
genius and his works will be universally admired
as long as science exists. " As long as ingrati-
tude and adulation are despicable, so long shaU
we lament the depravity of this great man*s heart.
Alas ! that he who could command immortal
fame, should have stooped to the little ambition of
power." And another great character further
says, " The faculties of his mind were great and
happily united ; for his imagination, memory
and reason were all extraordinary. He was inde-
fatigable in study, and found himself better turn-
ed for that than any thing else ; as having a
mind <^uick and ready to perceive the corres-

pondence of things ; fixed an Intent to discover
their nicer differences ; and this joined with a
love of equity ; a patience of doubting ; a pleas-
ure in contemplation ; a backwardness in assent-
ing ; a readiness in acknowledging an error ; and
a scrupulous exactness in disposing and metho-
dizing ; at the same time neither affecting novel-
ty, nor adoring antiquity ; but hating all kinds
of imposture and delusion.

" To consider him in his philosopical capaci-
ty, history scarce affords us a proper philosopher
wherewith to rompare him.

" Plato and Aristotle were men of a different
cast ; they did not pay so great a regard to truth
and utility ; nor instructed mankind so justly ;
nor opened the hidden veins of science so suc-
cessfully ; nor taught the art of philosophical in-
vention so happily as Lord Bacon.'*

PREFATORY EPISTLES.

TO MR. ANTHONY BACON,

HIS DEAR BROTHER.

Loving and beloved brother, I do now like
some that have an orchard ill neighboured,
that gather their fruit before it is ripe, .to pre-
vent stealing. These fragments of my con-
ceits werfi going to print : to labour the stay
of them had been troublesome, and subject to
interpretation ; to let them pass had been to
adventure the wrong they might receive by
untrue copies, or by some garnishment which
it might please any that should set them forth
to bestow upon them ; therefore I held it best
discretion to publish them myself, as they
passed long ago from my pen, without any
further disgrace than the weakness of the
author ; and as I did ever hold, there might
be as great a vanity in retiring and withdraw-
ing men's conceits, (except they be of some
nature,) from the world, as in obtruding them :
so in these particulars I have played myself the
inquisitor, and find nothing to my understand-

xu

ing in them contrary or infectious to the state
of religion or manners, but rather, as I sup-
pose, medicinable : only I disliked now to put
them out, because they will be like the late
new halfpence, which though the silver were
good, yet the pieces were small ; but since
they would not stay with their master, l»ut
would needs travel abroad, I have preferred
them to you that are next myself; dedicating
them, such as they are, to our love, in the
depth whereof, I assure you, I sometimes
wish your infirmities translated upon mjself,
that her majesty might have the service of so
active and able a mind ; and I might be with
excuse confined to these contemplations and
studies, for which I am fittest ; so commend I
you to the preservation of the Divine Majesty,

Your entire loving brother,

Fran. Bacon.

From my chamber at Gray^s Ittriy
this ^Oth of January, 1597.

Xlll

TO MY BELOVED BROTHER,

SIR JOHN CONSTABLE, KT.

My last Essays I dedicated to my dear brother,
Mr. Anthony Bacon, who is with God. Look-
ing amongst my papers this vacation, I found
others of the same nature : which if I myself
shall not suifer to be lost, it seemeth the world
will not, by the often printing of the former.
Missing my brother, I found you next ; in
respect of bond both of near alliance, and of
straight friendship and society, and particularly
of communication in studies ; wherein I must
acknowledge myself beholding to you : for as
my business found rest in my contemplations,
so my contemplations ever found rest in your
loving conference and judgment ; so wishing
3^ou all good, I remain

Your loving brother and friend,

^^12. Fj^a. Bacon.

XIV

TO THE
RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD

THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM,

His Grace Lord High Admiral cf England.
bXCELLENT LORD,

Solomon says, "A good name is as a precious
*^ ointment;" and I assure myself such will your
Grace's name be with posterity : for your for-
tune and merit both have been eminent ; and
)^ou have planted things that are like to last. I
do now publish my Essays ; which, of all my
other works, have been most current : for that,
as it seems, they come home to men's business
and bosoms. I have enlarged them both in
number and weight ; so that they are indeed
a new work : I thought it therefore agreeable
to my affection and obligation to your Grace,
to prefix your name before them both in Eng-
lish and Latin : for I do conceive, that the
Latin volume of them, being in the universal
language, may last as long as books last.
My Instauration 1 dedicated to the king ; my
history of Henry the Seventh, which I have

XV

now translated into Latin, and my portions of
Natural History, to the prince ; and these I de-
dicate to your Grace, being of the best fruits,
that, by the good increase which God gives to
my pen and labours, I could yield. God lead
your Grace by the hand.

Your Grace's most obliged

And faithful servant,

Fr. St. ALBA^:.

CONTENTS.

PAGF..

Of Truth . ". : . . I

. . . Death ;>

. . . Unity in Religion 8

, . . Revenge ^^

. . . Adversity J 8

. . . Simulation and Dissimulation . , . 20

. . . Parents and Children 25

. . . Marriage and Single Life • . . . 28

. . . Envy , . 31

. . . Love 40

^ . . Great Place 43

...Boldness ^ . 49

. . . Goodness, and Goodness of Nature . 52

. . . A King 56

. . . Nobility 60

... Seditions and Troubles €3

. . . Atheism 75

. . . Superstition 79

...Travel 82

. . . Empire ...., 86

. . . Counsel , . . . . 94

. . . Delays 102

. . . Cunning 104

. . . Wisdom for a Man's Self .... 110

, . . Innovations 113

. . . Despitch 115

, . . Seeming Wise 118

. . . Friendship 120

. . . Expense , 133

B 2

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Of Tiie True Greatness of Kingdoms and

Estates 135

.. Regimen of Health ...... 151

. . Suspicion 154

. .Discourse 156

. .Plantations 159

. . Riches ]64

. . Propliecics 170

. . Ambition 175

.. Masques and Triumphs .... 178

.. Nature in Men 181

.. Custom and Education 184

. . Fortune 187

. . Usury 190

. .Youth and Age ....... 196

. . Beauty 199

. .Deformity 201

. . Building 204

. . Gardens 211

. . Negociating 222

. . Followers and Friends 225

. . Suitoi's 227

. . Studies 231

. . Faction 233

.. Ceremonies and Respects .... 236

. . Praise 239

. . Vain Glory 242

. . Honour and Reputation . . , . 245

. . Judicature 248

. . Anger 255

.. Vicissitude of Things 258

A Fragment of an Essay on Fame . . 268

ESSAYS,

CIVIL AND MORAL.

OF TRUTH.

What is truth ? said jesting Pilate, and would
not stay for an answer. Certainly there be that
delight in giddiness, and count it a bondage to
fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as
well as in acting : and, though the sects of
philosophers of that kind be gone, yet there
remain certain discoursing wits which are of
the same veins, though there be not so much
blood in them as was in those of the ancients.
But it is not only the difficulty and labour
which men take in finding out of truth ; nor
again, that, when it is found, it imposeth upon
men's thoughts, that doth bring lies in favour ;

but a natural, though cornjpt love of the lie
itself. One of the later schools of the Grecians
examineth the matter, and is at a stand to think
what should be in it, that men should love lies,
where neither they make for pleasure, as with
poets; nor for advantage, as with the merchant ;
but for the lie's sake. But I cannot tell : this
same truth is a naked and open daylight, that
doth not shew the masques, and mummeries,
and triumphs of the world half so stately and
daintly as candlelights. Truth may perhaps
come to the price of a pearl, that sheweth best
by day ; but it will not rise to the price of a dia-
mond or carbuncle, that sheweth best in varied
lights. A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.
Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken
out of men's minds vain opinions, flattering
hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one
>vould, and the like, but it would leave the
minds of a number of men, poor shrunken
things, full of melancholy and indisposition,
and unpleasing to themselves ? One of the
fathers, in great severity, called poesy, *' vinum
** daemonum," because it filleth the imagination,
and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie.
But it is not the lie that passeth through the

jTiind, but the lie, that sinketh in and settleth
in it, that doth the hurt, such as we spake of
before. But however these things are thus
in men's depraved judgments and affections,
yet truth, which only doth judge itself, teach-
eth that the enquiry of truth, which is the
love-making, or wooing of it ; the knowledge
of truth, which is the presence of it ; and the
belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it; is
the sovereign good of human nature. The
first creature of God, in the works of the days,
was the light of the sense ; the last was the
light of reason ; and his sabbath work, ever
since, is the illumination of his Spirit. First
he breathed light upon the face of the matter,
or chaos ; then he breatheth light into the face
of man ; and still he breatheth and inspireth
light into the face of his chosen. The poet
that beautified the sect, that was otherwise
inferior to the rest, saith yet excellently well,
*^ It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to
** see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand
^' m the window^ of a castle, and to see a battle,
'^ and the adventurers thereof below ; but no
*^ pleasure is comparable to the standing upon
'* llic vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be

4

^* commanded, and where the air is always clear
'^ and serene,) and to see the errors and wan-
" derings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale
^* below ;" so always that this prospect be with
pity, and not with swelling or pride. Cer-
tainly, it is heaven upon earth to have a man's
mind move in charity, rest in providence, and
turn upon the poles of truth.

To pass from theological and philosophical
truth to the truth of civil business, it will be
acknowledged, even by those that practise it
not, that clear and round dealing is the honour
of man's nature, and that mixture of falsehood
is like allay in coin of gold and silver, which
may make the metal work the better, but it
embaseth it : for these winding and crooked
courses are the goings of the serpent ; which
goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the
feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a
man with shame as to be found false and per-
fidious : and therefore Montaigne saith pret-
tily, when he inquired the reason why the
word of the lie should be such a disgrace, and
such an odious charge, " If it be w^ell w^eigh-
*' ed, to say that a man lieth, is as much as
*^ to say that he is brave tow^ards God, and a

«^ coward towards men : for a lie faces God,
<* shrinks from man." Surely the wickedness
of falsehood and breach of faith cannot possibly
be so highly expressed as in that it shall be
the last peal to call the judgments of God upon
the generations of men : it being foretold, that
when '^ Christ cometh," he shall not " find
faith upon earth."

OF DEATH.

Men fear death as children fear to go in the
dark ; and as that natural fear in children is
increased with tales, so is the other. Certainly,
the contemplation of death, as the wages of
sin and passage to another world, is holy and
religious ; but the fear of it, as a tribute due
unto nature, is weak. Yet in religious medi-
tations there is sometimes mixture of vanity
and of superstition. You shall read in some of
the friars books of mortihcation, that a man
should think with himself what the pain is, if
he have but his finger's end pressed, or tor-
tured, and thereby imagine what the pains of
death are when the whole body is corrupte4

ftnd dissolved ; when many times death passeth
with less pain than the torture of a limb ; for
the most vital parts are not the quickest of
sense : and by him that spake only as a phi-
losopher and natural man, it was well said^
"Pompa mortis magis terret, quam mors ipsa."
Groans, and convulsions, and a discoloured
face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and
obsequies, and the like, shew death terrible.
It is w^orthy the observing, that there is no
passion in the mind of man so weak, but it
mates and masters the fear of death; and there-
fore death is no such terrible enemy when a
man hath so many attendants about him that
can win the combat of him. Revenge triumphs
over death ; love slights it ; honour aspireth to
it ; grief flieth to it ; fear pre-occupieth it ;
nay, we read, after Otho the emperor had slain
himself, pity (which is the tenderest of affec-
tions) provoked many to die out of mere com-
passion to their sovereign, and as the truest
sort of followers. Nay, Seneca adds, niceness
and satiety ; '^ Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris;
" mori velle, non tantum fortis, aut miser, sed
" etiam fastidiosus potest." A man would die,
though he were neither valiant nor miserable,

only upon a weariness to do the same thing so
oft over and over. It is no less worthy to ob-
sewe how little alteration in good spirits the
approaches of death make ; for they appear to
be the same men till the last instant. Augustus
C^sar died in a compliment : « Livia, conjugii
*< nostri memor, vive et vale :" Tiberius in dis-
simulation, as Tacitus saith of him, « Jam Ti-
« berium vires et corpus, nondissimulatio,dese-
« rebant :" Vespasian in a jest,sitting uponthe
stool, « Ut puto Deus fio :" Galba with a sen-
tence, ^* Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani,"
holding forth his neck ; Septimius Severus in
dispatch," Adeste,si quidmilii restat agendum,"
and the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed
too much cost upon death, and by their great
preparations made it appear more fearful. Bet-
ter, saith he, "qui finem vitae extremum inter
" munera, ponat naturae." It is as natural to die
as to be born ; and to a little infant, perhaps,
the one is as painful as the other. He that
dies in an earnest pursuit is like one that is
wounded in hot blood ; who, for the time,
scarce feels the hurt; andtherefore a mind fixed
and bent upon somewhat that is good, doth
avert the dolours of death : but, above all, be-

c

8

lieve it, the sweetest canticle is, "Nunc dimit-
^* tis," when a man hath obtained worthy ends
and expectations. Death hath this also, that it
openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguish-
eth envy ; " Extinctus amabitur idem."

OF UNITY IN RELIGION.

Religion being the chief band of human so-
ciety, it is a happy thing when itself is well
contained within the true bond of unity. The
quarrels and divisions about religion were evils
unknown to the heathen. The reason was, be-
cause the religion of the heathen consisted ra-
ther in rites and ceremonies, than in any con-
stant belief: for you may imagine what kind
of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors and
fathers of their church were the poets. But
the true God hath this attribute, that he is a
jealous God ; and therefore his worship and
religion will endure no mixture, nor partner.
We shall therefore speak a few words concern-
ing the unity of the church ; what are the
fruits thereof; what the bonds; and what the
means.

The fruits of unity (next unto the well-
pleasing of God, which is all in all) are two ;
the one towards those that are without the
church ; the other towards those that are
within. For the former, it is certain, that
heresies and schisms are of all others the great-
est scandals; yea more than corruption of man-
ners : for as in the natural body a wound or
solution of continuity is w^orse than a corrupt
humour, so in the spiritual : so that nothing
doth so much keep men out of the church, and
drive men out of the church, as breach of
unity ; and, therefore, whensoever it cometh to
that pass that one saith, *^ ecce in deserto,'' an-
other saith, " ecce in penetralibus ;'» that is,
when some men seek Christ in the conventicles
of heretics, and others in an outward face of a
church, that voice had need continually to
sound in men's ears, <^nolite exire," '^ go not
out." The doctor of the Gentiles (the propriety
of whose vocation drew him to have a special
care of those without) saith, << If an heathen
** come in, and hear you speak with several
^' tongues, will he not say that you are mad ?"
and, certainly, it is little better : when atheists
and profane persons do hear of so many dis-

10

cordant and contrary opinions in religion, it
doth avert them from the church, and maketh
them ^' to sit down in the chair of the scorners.'*
It is but a light thing to be vouched in so
serious a matter, but yet it expresseth well the
deformity. There is a master of scoffing that
Jn his catalogue of books of a feigned library,
sets down this title of a book, " The morris-
'^ dance of heretics :"for, indeed, every sect of
them hath a diverse posture or cringe by them-
selves, which cannot but move derision in world-
lings and depraved politics, who are apt to con-
temn holy things.

As for the fruit towards those that are
within, it is peace, which containeth infinite
blessings ; it establisheth faith ; it kindleth cha-
rity : the outward peace of the church distilleth
into peace of conscience, and it turneth the
labours of waiting and reading of controversies
into treatises of mortification and devotion.

Concerning the bonds of unity, the true
placing of them importeih exceedingly. There
appear to be two extremes: for to certain
zealots all speech of pacification is odious.
'f Is it peace, Jehu ?" " What hast thou to do
^^ with peace ? turn thee behind me." Peace u

11

not the matter, but following and party. Con-
trariwise, certain Laodiceans and lukewarm
persons think they may accommodate points
of religion by middle w^ays, and taking part of
both, and witty reconcilements, as if they
would make an arbitrement betw^een God and
man. Both these extremes are to be avoided ;
which will be done if the league of Christians,
penned by our Saviour himself, were in the two
cross clauses thereof soundl}' and plainly ex-
pounded : ^^ He that is not with us is against
« us ;" and again, " He that is not against us
<' is with us ;" that is, if the points fundamen-
tal, and of substance in religion, were truly
discerned and distinguished from points not
merely of faith, but of opinion, order, or good
intention. This is a thing may seem to many a
matter trivial, and done already ; but if it were
done less partially, it would be embraced more
generally.

Of this I may give only this advice, ac-
cording to my small model. Men ought to
take heed of rending God's church by two
kinds of controversies ; the one is, when the'
matter of the point controverted is too small
and light, not worth the heat and strife about
c 2

12

it, kindled only by contradiction ; for, as it is
noted by one of the fathers, Christ's coat in-
deed had no seam, but the church's vesture
was of divers colours ; whereupon he saith^
^^ in veste yarietas sit, scissura non sit," they
be two things, unity and uniformity : the other
is when the matter of the point controverted
is great, but it is driven to an over-great sub-
tilty and obscurity, so that it becometh a thing
rather ingenious than substantial. A man that
is of judgment and understanding shall some-
times hear ignorant men differ, and know well
within himself, that those which so differ mean
one thing, and yet they themselves would never
agree : and if it come so to pass in that dis-
tance of judgment which is between man and
man, shall we not think that God above, that
knows the heart, doth not discern that frail
men, in some of their contradictions, intend
*he same thing, and accepteth of both ? The
aature of such controversies is excellently ex-
pressed by St. Paul m the warning and precept
that he giveth concerning the same, *^ devita
" profanas vocum novitates, et oppositiones
** falsi nominis scientiae." Men create oppo-
sitions which are not, and put them into new

terms so fixed, as whereas the meaning oughi
to govern the term, the term in effect govern-
eth the meaning. There be also two false
peaces, or unities ; the one, when the peace is
grounded but upon an impHcit ignorance ; for
all colours will agree in the dark : the other,
when it is pieced up upon a direct admission of
contraries in fundamental points : for truth
and falsehood in such things are like the iron
and clay in the toes ofNebuchadnezzar»s image;
they may cleave_, but they will not incorpo-
rate.

Concerning the means of procuring unity,
rnen must beware^ that, in the procuring or
muniting of religious unity, they do not dis-
solve and deface the laws of charity and of
human society. There be two swords amongst
Christians, the spiritual and temporal ; and both
have their due office and place in the mainte-
nance of religion : but we may not take up the
third sword, which is Mahomet's sword, or like
imto h[; that is, to propagate religion by wars,
or by sanguinary persecutions to force con-
sciences ; except it be in cases of overt scandal,
blasphemy, or intermixture of practice against
the state ; much less to nourish seditions ; to

u

authorize conspiracies and rebellions ; to put
the sword into the people^s hands, and the like,
tending to the subversion of all government,
which is the ordinance of God : for this is but
to dash the first table against the second ; and
so to consider men as Christians, as we forget
that they are men. Lucretius the poet, when
he beheld the act of Agamemnon, that could
endure the sacrificing of his own daughter, ex-
claimed,

" Tantum rellgio potuit suadere malorum."

What would he have said if he had knowii
of the massacre in France, or the po\vder trea-
son of England ? He would have been seven
times more epicure and atheist than he was :
for as the temporal sword is to be drawn with
great circumspection in cases of religion, so it
is a thing monstrous to put it into the hands of
the common people ; let that be left unto the
anabaptists, and other furies. It w^as great
blasphemy when the devil said, " I will as-
" cend and be like the Highest;" but it is
greater blasphemy to personate God, and bring
him in saying, " I will descend, and be like the
" prince of darkness :" and what is it better

15

to make the cause of religion to descend to
the cruel and execrable actions of murdering
princes, butchery of people, and subversion of
states and governments ? Surely this is to bring
down the Holy Ghost, instead of the likeness of
a dove, in the shape of a vulture or raven ; and
to set out of the bark of a christian church a
flag of a bark of pirates and assassins ; therefore
it is most necessary, that the church by doctrine
and decree; princes by their sword; and all
learnings, both christian and moral, as by their
mercury rod to damn, and send to hell forever
those facts and opinions tending to the support
of the same, as hath been already in good part
done. Surely in councils concerning religion,
that council of the Apostle would be prefixed,
'* Ira hominis non implet justitiam Dei ;" and it
was a notable observation of a wise father, and
no less ingenuously confessed, that those, which
held and persuaded pressure of consciences,
were commonly interested therein themselves
tor their own ends.

16

OF REVENGE.

Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the
more man's nature runs to, the more ought law
to weed it out : for as for the first wTong, it
doth but offend the law, but the revenge of
that wrong putteth the law out of office. Cer-
tainly in taking revenge a man is but even
with his enemy ; but in passing it over he is
superior ; for it is a prince's part to pardon :
and Solomon, I am sure, saith, " It is the
^* glory of a man to pass by an offence." That
which is past is gone and irrecoverable, and
wise men have enough to do with things present
and to come ; therefore they do but trifle with
themselves that labour in past matters. There
is no man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake,
but thereby to purchase himself profit, or plea-
sure, or honour, or the like ; therefore why
should I be angry w^ith a man for loving him-
self better than me ? And if any man should
do wrong merely out of ill nature, why, yet
it is but like the thorn or briar, which prick
and scratch because they can do no other. The
most tolerable sort of revenge is for those

17

wrongs which there is no law to remedy : but,
then, let a man take heed the revenge be such
as there is no law to punish^ else a man's
enemy is still beforehand, and it is two for
one. Some when they take revenge are de-
sirous the party should know when it cometh:
this is the more generous ; for the delight
seemeth to be not so much in doing the hurt
as in making the party repent : but base and
crafty cowards are like the arrow that flieth in
the dark. Cosmus, duke of Florence, had a
desperate saying against perfidious or neglect-
ing friends, as if those wrongs were unpardon-
able. "You shall read,"saith he, ^' that we are
" commanded to forgive our enemies, but you
" never read that we are commanded to forgive
*' our friends." But yet the spirit of Job was in
a better tune: *^ Shall we," saith he, "take good
" at God's hands, and not be content to take
" evil also ?" and so of friends in a proportion.
This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge
keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise
would heal and do well. Public revenges are
for the most part fortunate ; as that for the
death of Caesar ; for the death of Pertinax ; for
the death of Henry the third of France ; and

18

many more. But in private revenges it is not
so ; nay, rather vindicative persons live the
life of witches ; who, as they are mischievous,
so end they unfortunate.

OF ADVERSITY.

It was an high speech of Seneca, (after the
manner of the Stoics,) that the good things
which belong to prosperity are to be wished,
but the good things that belong to adversity
are to be admired : *^ Bona rerum secundanim
" optabilia, adversarum mirabilia." Certainly
if miracles he the command over nature, they
appear most in adversity. It is yet a higher
speech of his than the other, (much too high
for a heathen,) " It is true greatness to have in
*^ one the frailty of a man, and the security of
" a God :" " Vere magnum habere fragilitatem
" hominis, securitatem Dei." This would have
done better in poesy, where transcendencies
are more allowed ; and the poets, indeed, have
been busy with it : for it is in effect the thing
which is figured in that strange fiction of the
ancient poets, which seemeth not to be with-

19

out mystery ; liay, and to have some approach
to the state of a Christian, ^^ that Hercules^
*^' when he went to unbind Prometheus, (by
^^ whom human nature is represented^) sailed
'^ the length of the great ocean in an earthen
^^ pot or pitcher, lively describing Christian re-
^' solution, that saileth in the frail bark of the
" flesh through the waves of the world." But
to speak in a mean, the virtue of prosperity is
temperance ; the virtue of adversity is forti-
tude, which in morals is the more heroical
virtue. Prosperity is the blessing of the Old
Testament ; adversity is the blessing of the
New, which carrieth the greater benediction
and the clearer revelation of God's favour.
Yet even in the old Testament, if you listen
to David's harp, you shall hear as many herse-
like airs as carols ; and the pencil of tiie Holy
Ghost hath laboured more in describing the
afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solo-
mon. Prosperity is not without many fears
and distastes; and adversity is not without
comforts and hopes. We see in needleworks
and embroideries it is more pleasing to have
a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground,
than to have a dark and melancholy work upon
D

20

a lightsome ground: judge therefore of the
pleasure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye.
Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most
fragrant when they are incensed or crushed; for
prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity
doth best discover virtue.

OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION.

Dissimulation is but a faint kind of policy or
wnsdom ; for it asketh a strong wit and a strong
heart to know when to tell truth, and to do it :
therefore it is the weaker sort of politicians that
are the great dissemblers.

Tacitus saith, " Livia sorted well with the
" arts of her husband, and dissimulation of her
" son ; attributing arts of policy to Augustus,
*' and dissimulation to Tiberius :" and again,
when Mucianus encourageth Vespasian to take
arms against Vitellius, he saith, " We rise not
" against the piercing judgment of Augustus,
*' nor the extreme caution or closeness of Ti-
^^ berius :" these properties of arts or policy.,

21

and dissimulation or closeness are indeed habits
and faculties several, and to be distinguished ;
for if a man have that penetration of judgment
as he can discern what things are to be laid
open, and v^hat to be secreted, and what to be
shewed at half lights, and to whom and when,
(which indeed are arts of state, and arts of life,
as Tacitus well calleth them,) to him a habit
of dissimulation is a hinderance and a poornees.
But if a man cannot attain to that judgment,
then it is left to him generally to be close and
a dissembler ; for where a man cannot choose
or vary in particulars, there it is good to take
the safest and wariest way in genera!, Hke
the going softly by one that cannot well see.
Certainly the ablest men that ever were have
had all an openness and frankness of dealing,
and a name of certainty and veracity : but
then they were hke horses well managed, for
they could tell passing well when to stop or
turn ; and at such times vvhe^i they thought
the case indeed required dissimulation, if then
they used it, it came to pass, that the former
opinion, spread abroad, of their good faith and
clearness of dealing made them almost invisi-
ble.

22

There be three degrees of this hiding and
veiling of a man's self; the first, closeness, re-
servation, and secrecy, when a man leaveth
himself without observation, or without hold to
be taken, what he is ; the second, dissimulation
in the negative, when a man lets fall signs and
arguments, that he is not that he is ; and the
third, simulation in the affirmative, when a man
industriously and expressly feigns and pretends
to be that he is not.

For the first of these, secrecy, it is indeed
the virtue of a confessor ; and assuredly the
secret man heareth many confessions, for w^ho
will open himself to a blab or a babbler ? But
if a man be thought secret, it inviteth discov-
ery, as the more close air sucketh in the more
open : and as in confession the revealing is not
for w^orldly use, but for the ease of a man^s
heart, so secret men come to the know^ledge of
many things in that kind; while men rather
discharge their minds than impart their minds.
In few words, mysteries are due to secrecy.
Besides (to say truth) nakedness is uncomely,
as well in mind as in body ; and it addeth no
small reverence to men's manners and actions
if they be not altogether open. As for talkers

23

and futile persons, they are commonly vain and
credulous withal : for he that talketh what he
knoweth, will also talk what he knoweth not ;
therefore set it down, that an habit of secrecy
is both politic and moral ; and in this part it is
good, that a man's face give his tongue leave
to speak ; for the discovery of a man's self by
the tracts of his countenance is a great weak-
ness and betraying, by how much it is many
times more marked and believed than a man's
words.

For the second, which is dissimulation, it
followeth many times upon secrecy by a ne-
cessity ; so that he that will be secret must be
a dissembler in some degree : for men are too
cunning to suffer a man to keep an indifferent
carriage between both, and to be secret with-
out swaying the balance on either side. They
will so beset a man with questions and draw
him on, and pick it out of him, that without
an absurd silence he must shew an inclination
one way ; or if he do not, they will gather as
much by his silence as by his speech. As for
equivocations or eraculous speeches, they can-
not hold out long. So that no man can be se-
cret, except he give himself a little scope of
D 2

24

disslmv.lation, which is as it were but the skirts
or train of secrecy.

But for the third degree, which is simula-
tion and false profession, that I hold more
culpable and less politic, except it be in great
and rare matters : and therefore a general
custom of simulation, (which is this last de-
gree,) is a vice rising either of a natural false-
ness or fearfulness, or of a mind that hath some
main faults ; which, because a man must needs
disguise, it maketh him practise simulation in
other things, lest his hand should be out of
use.

The great advantages of simulation and
dissimulation are three : first, to lay aleep op-
position, and to surprise ; for where a man's
intentions are published, it is an alarm to call
up all that are against them : the second is to
leserve to a man's self a fair retreat ; for if a
man engage himself by a manifest declaration,
he must go through, or take a fall : the third
is, the better to discover the mind of another ;
for to him that opens himself men will hardly
shew themselves averse ; but will (fair) let
bim go on, and turn their freedom of speech
%o iieedoia of thought ; and therefgie it is a

25

good shrewd proverb of the Spaniard, *< Tell %
« lie and find a troth ;"as if there were no way
of discovery but by simulation. There be also
three disadvantages to set it even ; the first, that
simulation and dissimulation commonly carry
with them a shew of fearfulness, which, in any
business, doth spoil the feathers of round flying
up to the mark ; the second,that it puzzleth and
perplexeth the conceits of many that perhaps
would otherwise co-operate with him, and
makes a man walk almost alone to his own
ends ; the third and greatest is, that it de-
priveth a man of one of the most principal in-
struments for action, which is trust and belief.
The best composition and temperature is, to
have openness in fame and opinion ; secrecy
in habit ; dissimulation in seasonable use ; and
a power to feign, if there be no remedy.

OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

The joys of parents are secret, and so are their
griefs and fears ; they cannot utter the one, nor
they will not utter the other. Children sweeten
fabours, but they make misfortunes more bit-

26

tcr : they increase the cares of Hfe, but they
mitigate the remembrance of death. The per-
petuity by generation is common to beasts ; but
memory, merit, and noble works are proper to
men : and surely a man shall see the noblest
works and foundations have proceeded from
childless men, which have sought to express
the images of their minds where those of their
bodies have failed ; so the care of posterity is
most in them that have no posterit}^ They that
are the first raisers of their houses are most
indulgent towards their children ; beholding,
them as the continuance, not only of their kind,
but of their work ; and so both children and
creatures.

The difference in aifection of parents to-
wards their several children is many times
unequal, and sometimes unworthy, especially
in the mother; as Solomon saith, "A wise
" son rejoiceth the father, but an ungracious
" son shames the mother." A man shall see,
where there is a house full of children, one or
two of the eldest respected, and the youngest
made wantons; but in the midst some that
are as it were forgotten, who many times^
nevertheless, prove the best, The iiliberality

27

of parents in allowance towards their children
is an harmful error ; and makes them base ; ac-
quaints them with shifts ; makes them sort with
mean company ; and makes them surfeit more
when they come to plenty : and therefore the
proof is best when men keep their author-
ity tow^ards their children, but not their
purse. Men have a foolish manner, (both pa-
rents, and schoolmasters, and servants,) in
creating and breeding an emulation between
brothers during childhood, which many times
sorteth to discord \vhen they are men, and
disturbeth families. The Italians make little
diiference between children and nephews, or
near kinsfolks ; but so they be of the lump
they care not ; though they pass not through
their own body ; and, to say truth, in nature
it is much a like matter ; insomuch that we
see a nephew sometimes resembleth an uncle
or a kinsman more than his own parents, as
the blood happens. Let parents choose be-
times the vocations and courses they mean
their children should take, for then they are
most flexible ; and let them not too much
apply themselves to the disposition of their
"hildren, as thinking they will take best to

28

that which they have most mind to. It is tme,
that if the affection or aptness of the children
be extraordinary, then it is good not to cross
it ; but generally the precept is good, " opti-
" mum elige, suave et facile illud faciet con-
" suetudo.'' Younger brothers are commonly
fortunate, but seldom or never where the elder
are disinherited.

OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE.

He that hath wife and children hath given
hostages to fortune ; for they are impediments
to great enterprizes, either of virtue or mis-
chief. Certainly the best works, and of great-
est merit for the public have proceeded from
the unmarried or childless men ; which, both
in affection and means, have married and en-
dowed the public. Yet it were great reason
that those that have children should have
greatest care of future times, unto which they
know they must transmit their dearest pledges.
Some there are, who though they lead a singU

29

life, yet their thoughts do end with themselves,
and account future times impertinence?; nay,
there are some other that account wife and
children but as bills of charges ; nay more,
there are some foolish rich covetous men that
take a pride in having no children, because
they may be thought so much the richer ; for,
perhaps, they have heard some talk, " Such an
^' one is a great rich man," and another except
to it, " Yea, but he hath a great charge of chil-
^' dren," as if it v^rere an abatement to his
riches : but the most ordinary cause of a single
life is liberty, especially in certain self-pleasing
and humorous minds, which are so sensible of
fivery restrai)itasthey will go near to think their
girdles and garters to be bonds and shackles.
Unmarried men are best friends, best masters,
best servants ; but not always best subjects ;
for they are light to run away ; and almost all
fugitives are of that condition. A single life
doth well with churchmen, for charity will
hardly water the ground where it must first
fill a pool. It is indifferent for judges and
magistrates ; for if they be facile and corrupt,
you shall have a servant five times w^orse than
a wife. For soldiers, I find the general^ com

30

monly in their hortatives put men in mind of
their wives and children ; and I think the de-
spising of marriage among the Turks maketh
the vulgar soldier more base. Certainly wife
and children are a kind of discipline of hu-
manity ; and single men, though they be many
times more charitable because their means are
less exhaust, yet, on the other side, they are
more cruel and hardhearted, (good to make
severe inquisitors,) because their tenderness is
not so oft called upon. Grave natures, led by
custom, and therefore constant, are commonly
loving husbands, as was said of Ulysses, <^ ve-
" tulam suam praetulit immortalitati." Chaste
women are often proud and froward, as pre*
suming upon the merit of their chastity. It is
one of the best bonds, both of chastity and
obedience, in the wife, if she think her hus-
band wise, which she never will do if she find
him jealous. Wives are young men's mis-
tresses ; companions for middle age, and old
men's nurses ; so as a man ma}' have a quarrel
to marry when he will : but yet he was re-
puted one of the wise men that made answer
to the question when a man should marry, '^ A
*^ 3^oung man not yet, an elder man not at alL''

31

'it is often seen that bad husbands have very
.good wives ; whether it be that it raiseth the
price of their husbands kindness when it comes,
or that the wives take a pride in their patience ;
but this never fails, if the bad husbands were of
their own choosmg, against their friends con-
sent, for then they will be sure to make good
their own folly.

OF ENVY.

There be none of the affections which have
been noted to fascinate or bewitch, but love
and envy : they both have vehement wishes ;
they frame themselves readily into imagina-
tions and suggestions ; and they come easily
into the eye, especially upon the presence of
the objects, which are the points that conduce
to fascination, if any such thing there be. We
see, likewise, the scripture calleth envy aa
evil eye ; and the astrologers call the evil in-
fluences of the stars evil aspects ; so that still
there seemeth to be acknowledged in the act
of envy an ejaculation or irradiation of the
eye ^ nay, some have been so curious as to
E

32

note, that the times, when the stroke or percus-
sion of an envious eye doth most hurt,are when
the party envied is beheld in glory or triumph ;
for that sets an edge upon env}^ : and besides,
at such times the spirits of the person envied do
come forth most into the outward parts, and
so meet the blow.

But leaving these curiosities, (though not
unworthy to be thought on in fit place,) we
will handle what persons are apt to envy
others ; what persons are most subject to be
envied themselves ; and what is the diiference
betw^een public and private envy.

A man that hath no virtue in himself ever
envieth virtue in others : for men's minds will
either feed upon their ow^n good, or upon
others evil ; and who wanteth the one will
prey upon the other ; and whoso is out of
hope to attain to another's virtue, will seek to
come at even hand by depressing another's for-
tune.

A man that is busy and inquisitive is com-
monly envious ; for to know much of other
men's matters cannot be, because all that ado
may concern his own estate ; therefore it must
needs be that he taketh a kind of play-pleasure

33

in looking upon the fortunes of others ; neither
can he that mindeth but his own business find
much matter for envy ; for envy is a gadding
passion, and walketh the streets, and doth not
keep home ; ^^ Non est curiosus, quin idem sit
^^ malevolus."

Men of noble birth are noted to be envious
towards new men when they rise ; for the dis-
tance is altered, and it is like a deceit of the
eye, that when others come on they think them-
•i^elves go back.

Deformed persons and eunuchs, and old men
and bastards are envious ; for he that cannot
possibly mend his own case will do w^hat he can
to impair another's; except tliese defects hghf
upon a very brave and herocial nature which
thinketh to make his natural wants part of his
honou/ : in that it should be said, " That an
^* eunuch or a lame man did such great matters;'-'
affecting the honour of a miracle, as it was in
Narses the eunuch, and Agesilaus and Tamber-
lane, that were lame men.

The same is the case of men that rise after
ealamities and misfortunes ; for they are as men
fallen out with the times, and think other men's
karms a redemption of their own sufferings.

34

They lliat desire to excel in too many mat-
ters, out of levity and vain glory, are even en-
vious, for they cannot want work; it being im-
possible, but many, in some one of these things^
should surpass them ; which was the character
uf Adrian the emperor, that mortally envied
poets, and painters, and artificers in ^vorks-
wherein he had a vein to excel.

Last]}', near kinsfolko and fellows in office,
jind those that have been bredtogether are more
apt to envy their equals when they are raised;
ibr it doth upbraid unto them their own for-
'iines, and pointeth at them, and comelh of--
tener into their remembrance, and incurreth
likewise more into the note of others; and
envy ever redoubleth from speech and fame.
Cain's envy Vv-as the more vile and malignant
towards his brother Abel, because, when his
sacrifice was better accepted, there was no
body to look on. Thus much for those that
are apt to envy.

Concerning those that are more or less sub-
ject to envy. First, persons of emiinent virtue
when they are advanced are less envied ; for
their fortune seemeth but due unto them ; and
no man envieth the payment of a debt^ but

rewards and liberality rather. Again^ envy is
ever joined with the comparing of a man's self;
and where there is no comparison, no envy; and
therefore kings are not envied but by kings.
Nevertheless it is to be noted, that unvs^orthy
persons are most envied at their first coming in_,
and afterwards overcome it better; whereas con-
trariwise, persons of worth and merit are most
envied when their fortune continueth long;- for
by that time, though their virtue be the same,,
yet it hath not the same lustre, for fresh men
grow up to darken it.

Persons of noble blood are less envied in
their rising ; for it seemeth but right done to
their birth ; besides, there seemeth not much
added to their fortune ; and envy is as the sun-
beamSy that beat hotter upon a bank or steep
rising ground, than upon a flat : and, for the
same reason, those that are advanced by de-
grees are less envied than those that are ad-
vanced suddenly, and " per saltum."

Those that have joined with their honour
great travels, cares, or perils are less subject to
envy; for men think that they earn their ho-
nours hardly, and pity them sometimes ; and
pity ever healeth envy : w^herefore you shall
e2

36

observe, that the more deep and sober sort of
politic persons in their greatness are ever be-
moaning themselves what a life they lead,
chanting a " quanta patimur ;" not that they
feel it so, but only to abate the edge of envy :
but this is to be understood of business that is
laid upon men, and not such as they call unto
themselves ; for nothing increaseth envy more
than an unnecessary and ambitious ingrossing
of business ; and nothing doth extinguish envy
more than for a great person to preserve all
other inferior officers in their full rights and
pre-eminences of their places; for by that
means there be so many screens between him
and envy.

Above all, those are most subject to envy
which carry the greatness of their fortunes ia
an insolent and proud manner; being never well
but while they are shewing how great they are,,
either by outward pomp, or by triumphing over
all opposition or competition : whereas wise men
■will rather do sacrifice to envy, in suffering
themselves sometimes of purpose to be crossed
and overborn in things that do not much con-
cern them. Notwithstanding so much is true,
that the carriage of greatness in a plain and

3-T

open manner, (so it be without arrogancy and
vain glory,) doth draw less envy than if it be
in a more crafty and cunning fashion ; for in
that course a man doth but disavow fortune,
and seemeth to be conscious of his own want
in worth, and doth but teach others to envy
him.

Lastly, to conclude this part, as we said in
the beginning that the act of env}^ had some-
what in it of witchcraft, so there is no other
cure of envy but the cure of witchcraft; and
that is, to remove the lot, (as they call it,) and
to lay it upon another ; for which purpose, the
wiser sort of great persons bring in ever upon
the stage somebody upon whom to derive the
envy that would come upon themselves ; some-
times upon ministers and servants ; sometimes
upon colleagues and associates, and the like ;
and for that turn there are never wanting some
persons of violent and undertaking natures, who,
so they may have power and business, will take
it at any cost.

Now to speak of public en^y : there is yet
some good in public envy, whereas in private
there is none ; for public envy is as an ostra-
cism, that eclipseth men when they grow too

33

great ; and therefore it is a bridle also to great
ones to keep them within bounds.

This envy, being in the Latin word " in-
«^vidia," goeth in the modern languages by the
name of discontentment ; of which we shall
apeak in handling sedition. It is a disease in
a state like to infection : for as infection spread-
eth upon that which is sound and tainteth it ;
so when envy is gotten once into a state it
traduceth ev^n the best actions thereof, and
turneth them into an ill odour ; and therefore
there is little won by intermingling of plau-
sible actions : for that doth argue but a weak>
ness and fear of envy, which hurteth so much
the more, as it is likewise usual in infectionsj
which if you fear them you oall them upon
you.

This public envy seeemeth to bear chiefly
upon principal officers or ministers, rather than
upon kings and states themselves. But this
is a sure rule, that if the envy upon the min-
ister be great when the cause. of it in him is
small ; or if the envy be general in a manner
upon all the ministers of an estate, then the
envy (though hidden) is truly upon the state.,
itself. And so much of public envy or disr

39

contentment, and the difference thereof from
private envy, which was handled in the first
place.

We will add this in general touching the
affection of envy, that of all other affections it
is the most importune and continual ; for of
other affections there is occasion given but now
and then ; and therefore it was w^ell said,
" Invidia festos dies non agit :" for it is ever
working upon some or other. And it is also
noted, that love and envy do make a man pine,,
which other aiiections do not, because they are
not so continual. It is also the vilest affection,
and the most depraved ; for which cause it is
the proper attribute of the devil, who is called,
" The envious man, that sow-eth tares amongst
^^ the wheat by night ;" as it ahvays cometh to
pass that envy worketh subtilly, and in the
dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such
ii is the wheat.

40

OF LO\^E.

The stage is more beholding to love than the
life of man ; for as to the stage, love is even
matter of comedies, and now and then of tra-
gedies ; but in life it doth much mischief;
sometimes like a siren, sometimes like a fury.
You may observe, that among.-t all the great
and worthy persons, (whereof the m.emory re-
maineth, either ancient or recent,) there is not
one that hath been transported to tlie mad
degree of love; which shews that great spirits
and great business do keep out this weak pas-
sion. You mxust except, nevertheless,. Marcus
Antonius, the half partner of the empire of
Rome, and Appius Claudius, the decemvir and
lawgiver ; whereof the former was indeed a
voluptuous man, and inordinate ; but the lat-
ter was an austere and wise man ; and there-
fore it seems, (though rarely,) tiiat love can
find entrance, not only into an open heart,
but also into a heart well fortified, if watch
be not well kept. It is a poor saying of Epi-
curus, " Satis magnum alter alteri theatrum
^< sumus ;" as if man, made for the contem--

41

plation of heaven and all noble objects, should
do nothing but kneel before a little idol, and
make himself a subject, though not of the
mouth, (as beasts are) yet of the eye, which
was given him for higher purposes. It is a
strange thing to note the excess of this passion,
and how it braves the nature and value of
things by this, that the speaking in a perpetual
hyperbole is comely in nothing but in love ;
neither is it merely in the phrase ; for whereas
it hath been well said, ^' That the arch fiat-
"terer, with whom all the pretty flatterers have
** intelligence, is a man's self;" certainly the
lover is more; for there was never a proud man
thought so absurdly well of himself as the
lover doth of the person loved ; and therefore
it was well said, " That it is impossible to love
*' and to be wise." Neither doth this weakness
appear to others only and not to the party
loved, but to the loved most of all, except the
love be reciprocal ; for it is a true rule, that
love is ever rewarded either with the recipro-
cal or with an inward and secret contempt,
by how much the more men ought to beware
of this passion, which loseth not only other
things, but itself. As for the other losses, the

42

poet's relation doth well figure them ;/« That
" he that preferred Helena quitted the gifts of
*< Juno and Pallas;" for whosoever estecmeth
too much of amorous aifection, quitteth both
riches and wisdom. This passion hath its floods
ill the very times of weakness, which are, great
prosperity, and great adversity, though this lat-
ter hath been less observed ; both which times
kindle love and make it more fervent, and
therefore shew it to be the child of folly. They
do best, who, if they cannot but admit love,
yet make it keep quarter, and sever it wholly
from their serious affairs and actions of hfe ;
for if it check once with business, it troubleth
men's fortunes, aiid maketh men that they can
no ways be true to their own ends. I know
not how, but martial men are given to love :
I think it is, but as they are given to wine ;
for perils commonly ask to be paid in plea-
sures. There is in man's nature a secret in-
clination and motion towards love of others,
■which if it be not spent upon some one or a
few, doth naturally spread itself towards many,
and maketh men become humane and chari-
table, as it is seen sometime in friars. Nuptial
love maketh mankind ; friendly love perfecteth

43

it ; but wanton love cornipteth and cmbas-
f th it.

OF GREAT PLACE.

Men in great place are thrice servants ; ser-
vants of the sovereign or state, servants of
fame, and servants of business ; so as they
have no freedom, neither in their persons, nor
in their actions, nor in their times. It is a
Strange desire to seek power and to Io?e li-
berty ; or to seek power over others, and to
lose power over a man's self» The rising unto
place is laborious, and by pains men come to
greater pains ; and it is sometimes base, and by
indignities men come to dignities. The stand-
ing is slippery, und the regress is either a
dosvnfal, or at least an eclipse, which is a me-
lancholy thing : " Cum non sis qui fueris,
*' non esse cur velis vivere ?" Nay, retire men
cannot when they w^ould, neither will they
when it were reason; but are impatient of
privateness even in age and sickness, which
require the shadow ; like old townsmen, that
will be still sitting at their street door, though

44

thereby they offer age to scorn. Certainly,
great persons had need to borrow other men's
opinions to think themselves happy ; for if
they judge by their own feehng, they cannot
find it : but if they think with themselves
what other men think of them, and that other
men would fain be as they are, then they are
happy as it were by report, when, perhaps,
they find the contrary within : for they are
the first that find their own griefs, though
they be the last that find their own faults.
Certainly, men in great fortunes are strangers
to themselves, and while they are in the puzzle
of business they have no time to tend their
health either of body or mind : " lUi mor$
'^ gravis incubat, qui notus nimis omnibus,
" ignotus moritur sibi." In place there is li-
cense to do good and evil ; whereof the latter
is a curse : for in evil the best condition is not
to will ; the second not to can. But power to
do good is the true and lawful end of aspir-
ing ; for good thoughts (though God accept
them,) yet towards men are little better than
good dreams, except they be put in act ; and
that cannot be without power and place, as
the vantage and commanding ground. Merit

45

and good works is the end of man's motion ;
and conscience of the same is the accompiish-
ment of man's rest : for if a man can be par-
taker of God's theatre, he shall likewise be
partaker of God's rest : '' Et conversus Deus,
*' ut aspiceret opera, qu3e fecerunt manus suae,
" vidit quod omnia essent bona nimis ;" and
then the sabbath. In the discharge of thy
place set before thee the best examples; for
imitation is a globe of precepts; and after a
time set before thee thine own example ; and
examine thyself strictly whether thou didst not
best at first. Neglect not also the examples of
those that have carried tliemselves ill in the
same place ; not to set off thyself by taxing
their memory, but to direct thyself what to
avoid. Reform, therefore, without bravery or
scandal of former times and persons ; but 3'et
set it down to thj^self, as well to create good
precedents as to follow them. Reduce things
to the first institution, and observe wherein
and how they have degenerated, but yet ask
counsel of both times ; of the ancient time
what is best ; and of the latter time what is
fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, that
men may know beforehand what they may

46

expect : but be not too positive and peremp-
tory ; and express thyself well when thou di-
gressest from thy rule. Preserve the right of
thy place, but stir not questions of jurisdiction ;
and rather assume thy right in silence, and
** de facto," than voice it with claims and
challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of
inferior places ; and think it more honour to
direct in chief, than to be busy in all. Em-
brace and invite helps and advices touching
the execution of thy place ; and do not drive
away such as bring thee information as med-
<Uers, but accept of them in good part. The
vices of authority are chiefly four ; delays,
corruption, roughness, and facility. For delays
give easy access ; keep times appointed ; go
through with that w^hich is in hand, and in-
terlace not business but of necessity. For cor-
ruption, do not only bind thine own hands
or thy servants hands from taking, but bind
the hand of suitors also from offering ; for
integrity used doth the one ; but integrity
professed, and with a manifest detestation of
bribery, doth the other; and avoid not only
the fault, but the suspicion. Whosoever is
found variable, and changeth manifestly with--

47

out manifest cause giveth suspicion of corrupt-
tion : therefore,, always, when thou changest
thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, and
declare it, together with the reasons that move
thee to change, and do not think to steal it.
A servant or a favorite, if he be inward, and
no other apparent cause of esteem, is com-
monly thought but a by-way to close corrup-
tion. For roughness, it is a needless cause of
discontent : severity breedeth fear, but rough-
ness breedeth hate. Even reproofs from au-
thority ought to be grave, and not taunting.
As for facility, it is worse than bribery ; for
bribes come but now and then ; but if impor-
tunity or idle respects lead a man, he shall
never be without ; as Solomon saith, " To
** respect persons it is not good, for such a man
*^ will transgress for a piece of bread." It is
most true that was anciently spoken, " A place
" sheweth the man ; and it sheweth some to
<^ the better, and some to the worse :'' *^ omni-
*^ um consensu, capax imperii, nisi imperasset,'*
saith Tacitus of Galba ; but of Vespasian he
saith, *^ solus imperantium, Vespas;ianus mu-
" tatus in melius ;" though the one was meant
of sufficiency, the other of manners and affec-
F 2

43

lion. It is an assured sign of a worthy and
generous spirit, whom honours amend ; for
honour is, or should be the place of virtue;
and as in nature things move violently to their
place, and calmly in their place, so virtue m
ambition is violent, in authority settled and
calm. All rising to great place is by a winding
stair ; and if there be factions, it is good to
side a man's self whilst he is in the rising, and
to balance himself when he is placed. Use
the memory of thy predecessor fairly and ten-
derly ; ^or if thou dost notj it is a debt will
sure be paid when thou art gone. If thou
have colleagues, respect them ; and rather call
them w^hen they look not for it, than exclude
them when they have reason to look to be
called. Be not too sensible or too remem-
bering of thy place in conversation and pri-
vate answers to suitors ; but let it rather be
said, " When he sits in pUce he is another
^' nian.'>

«

OF BOLDNESS.

It is a trivial grammar school text, but yet
worthy a wise man's consideration. Question
was asked of Demosthenes, what was the chief
part of an orator ? he answered, action : what
next ? action : what next again ? action. He
said it that knew it best, and had by nature
himself no advantage in that he commended.
A strange thing, that that part of an orator
which is but superficial, and rather the virtue
of a player, should be placed so high above
those other noble parts of invention, elocution,
and the rest ; nay almost alone, as if it were
all in all. But the reason is plain. There is
in human nature generally more of the fool
than of the wise ; and therefore those faculties
by which the foolish part of men's minds is
taken, are most potent. Wonderful like is the
case of boldness in civil business ; what first ?
boldness : what second and third ? boldness.
And yet boldness is a child of ignorance and
baseness, far inferior to other parts : but, ne-
vertheless, it doth fascinate, and bind hand and
foot those that are either shallow in judgment

50

or weak in courage, which are the greatest
part : yea, and pre\ aileth with wise men at
weak times : therefore we see it hath done
wonders in popular states, but with senates and
princes less ; and more, ever upon the first en-
trance of bold persons into action, than soon
after; for boldness is an ill keeper of promise.
Surely, as there are mountebanks for the na-
tural body, so are there mountebands for the
politic body ; men that undertake great cures,
and perhaps have been lucky in two or three
experiments, but want the grounds of science,
and therefore cannot hold out : nay, you shall
see a bold fellow many times do Mahomet's mi-
racle. Mahomet made the people believe that
he would call an hill to him, and from the top
of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his
law. The people assembled : Mahomet called
the hill to come to him again and again ; and
when the hill stood still he was never a whit
abashed, but said, " If the hill will not come to
<^ Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill." So
these men,w^hen they have promised great mat-
ters and failed most shamefully, yet, (if they
have the perfection of boldness,) they will but
slight it over, and make a turn, and no more

51

ado. Certainly to men of great judgmeivt, bold
persons are sport to behold ; nay, and to the
vulgar also boldness hath somewhat of the
ridiculous : for if absurdity be the Subject of
laughter, doubt you not but great boldness is
seldom without some absurdity ; especially it
is a sport to see when a bold fellow is out of
countenance, for that puts his face in a most
shrunken and wooden posture, as needs it must :
for in bashfulness the spirits do a little go and
come ; but with bold men, upon like occasion,
they stand at a stay ; like a stale at chess, where
it is no mate, but yet the game cannot stir : but
this last were fitter for a satire, than for a se-
rious observation. This is well to be weighed,
that boldness is ever blind; for it seeth not
dangers and inconveniences : therefore it is ill
in counsel, good in execution ; so that the right
use of bold persons is, that they never command
in chief, but be seconds, and under the direc-
tion of others : for in counsel it is good to see
dangers, and in execution not to see them, ex-
cept they be very great.

SB

OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF
NATURE.

I TAKE goodness in this sense, the affecting of
the weal of men, which is that the Grecians
call Philanthropia ; and the word humanity
(asit is used) is a little too light to express
it. Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of
nature the inclination. This, of all virtues
and dignities of the mind, is the greatest, being
the character of the Deity ; and without it
man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing,
no better than a kind of vermin. Goodness
answers to the theological virtue charity, and
admits no excess but error. The desire of
powder in excess caused the angels to fall ; the
desire of knowledge in excess caused man to
fall : but in charity there is no excess, neither
can angel or man come in danger by it. The
inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in
the nature of man ; insomuch, that if it issue
not towards men, it will take unto other liv-
ing creatures ; as it is seen in the Turks, a
cruel people, who, nevertheless, are kind to

Ijeast?, and give alms to dogs and birds ; inso-
much as Busbechius reporteth, a Christian
boy in Constantinople had Hke to have been
stoned for gagging in a v^^aggishness a long
billed fowl. Errors indeed, in this virtue, in
goodness or charity, may be committed. The
Italians have an ungracious proverb, " Tanto
" buon che val niente ;" " So good, that he is
<"*good for nothing:" and one of the doctors of
Italy, Nicolas Machiavel, had the confidence
to put in writing, almost in plain terms, ** That
" the Christian faith had given up good men
*^ in prey to those that are tyrannical and un-
^* unjust;" which he spake, because, indeed,
there was never law, or sect, or opinion did so
much magnify goodness as the Christian religion
doth : therefore, to avoid the scandal, and the
danger both, it is good to take knowledge of
the errors of an habit so excellent. Seek the
good of other men, but be not in bondage io
their faces or fancies ; for that is but facility
or softness, which taketh an honest mind pris-
oner. Neither give thou ^sop's cock a gem,
who would be better pleased and happier if
he had a barley-corn. The example of God
teaclieth the lesson truly ; " He scndeth his

«' rain, and inaketh his sun to shin^upon the just
♦* and the unjust ;" but he doth not rain wealth,
nor shine honour and virtues upon men equal-
ly : common benefits are to be communicated
with all, but peculiar benefits with choicce
And beware how in making the portraiture thou
breakest the pattern ; for divinity maketh the
love of ourselves the pattern ; the love of our
neighbours but the portraiture : " Sell all thou
** hast, and give it to the poor, and follow?
^* me :" but sell not all thou hast, except thou
come and follow me ; that is, except thou
have a vocation wherein thou mayest do as
much good with little means as with great ;
for otherwise, in feeding the streams thou
driest the fountain. Neither is there only a
habit of goodness directed by right reason ;
but there is in some men, even in nature, a
disposition towards it ; as, on the other side,
there is a natural malignity : for there be
that in their nature do not affect the good of
others. The lighter sort of malignity turneth
but to a crossness, or frowardness, or aptness
to oppose, or difficileness, or the like ; but the
deeper sort to envy, and mere mischief. Such
men, in other men^s calamities, are, as it were.

55

iQ season^ and are ever on the loading parts 'i
not so good as the dogs that licked Lazarus'
sores, but like flies that are still buzzing upon
any thing that is raw ; misanthropi. that make
it their practice to bring men to the bough,
'and yet have never a tree for the purpose in
their gardens, as Timon had : such dicpo?itions
are the very errors of human nature, and yet
they are the fittest timber to make great poli-
tics of; like to knee timber, that is good for
ships that are ordained to be tossed, but not
for building houses that shall stand firm. The
parts and signs of goodness are many. If a
man be gracious and courteous to strangers,
it shews he is a citizen of the world, and that
his heart is no island cut off from other lands,
but a continent that joins to them : if he be
compassionate towards the afflictions of others,
it shews that his heart is like the noble tree
that is wounded itself when it gives the balm :
if he easily pardons and remits oflences, it
shews that his mind is planted above injuries,
«o that he cannot be shot : if he be thankiul
for small benefits, it shews that he weighs
men's minds, and not their trash : but, above
•all, if he have St. Paul-s perfection, that hf

56

would wish to be an anathema from Christ, for
the salvation of his brethren, it shews much of
a divine nature, and a kind of conformity with
Christ himself.

OF A KING.

1. A KING is a mortal god on earth, unto
whom the living God hath lent his own name
as a great honour ; but withal told him, he
should die like a man, lest he should be
proud, and flatter himself that God hath
with his name imparted unto him his nature
also.

2. Of all kind of men, God is the least be-
holding unto them ; for he doth most for them,
and they do ordinarily least for him.

3. A king that would not feel his crown too
heavy for him, must wear it every day ; but if
he think it too light, he knoweth not of what
metal it is made.

4. He must make religion the rule of go-
vernment, and not to balance the scale ; for he
that casteth in religion only to make the scales
even, his own weight is contained in those cha-

57

i^cters, " Mene mene, tekel uphart-in/' '< He is
^' found too light, his kingdom shall be taken
" from him."

5. And that king that holds not religion
the best reason of state, is void of all piety and
justice, the supporters of a king.

6. He must be able to give counsel himself,
but not rely thereupon; for though happy events
justify their counsels, yet it is better that the
evil event of good advice be rather imputed to
a subject than a sovereign.

7. He is the fountain of honour, which
should not run with a waste pipe, lest the cour-
tiers sell the water, and then, (as papists say of
their holy wellsf,) it loses the virtue.

S* He is the life of the law, not onty as he
is " lex loquens" himself, but because he ani-
mateth the dead letter, making it active towards
all his subjects, '^ pr^emio et poena."

9. A wise king must do less in altering his
laws than he may ; for new government is ever
dangerous ; it being true in the body politic, as
in the corporal, that " omnis subita immutatio
<^ est periculosa :" and though it be for the bet-
ter, yet it is not without a fearful apprehension ;
for he that changeth the fundamental laws of a

58

kingdom thlnketh there is no good title to ^
crown but by conquest,

10. A king that setteth to sale seats of justice^
oppresseth the people; for he teacheth his judges
to sell justice ; and "precio parata precio vendi-
^^ tur justitia."

11. Bounty and magnificence are virtues
very regal, but a prodigal king is nearer a
tyrant than a parsimonious ; for store at home
draweth not his contemplations abroad ; but
want supplieth itself of what is next, and
many times the next way : a king herein
must be wise, and know what he may justly
do.

12. That king w4iich is not feared is not
loved ; and he that is well seen in his craft
must as well study to be feared as loved ; yet
not loved for fear, but feared for love.

13. Therefore, as he must always resemble
hirn whose great name he beareth, and that as
in manifesting the sv/eet influence of his mercy
on the severe stroke of his justice sometimes, so
in this not to suffer a man of death to live ; for,
besides that the land doth mourn, the restraint
of justice towards sin doth more retard the af-
fection of love than the extent of mercy doth

59

enflame it ; and sure where love is [111] bestow-
ed fear is quite lost*

14. His greatest enemies are his flatterers;
for though they ever speak on his side, yet
their words still make against him.

15. The love which a king oweth to a weal
public should not be restrained to any one
particular ; yet that his more special favour
do reflect upon some worthy ones is somewhat
necessary, because there are few of that capa-
city.

15. He must have a special care of five
things, if he would not have his crown to b.e
but to him " infelix felicitas :"

first, that " simulata sanctitas" be not in the
church ; for that is " duplex iniquitas :"

secondly, that ^^ inutilis aequitas" sit not
in the chancery ; for that is " inepta miseri-
^^ cordia :'*

thirdly, that " utilis iniquitas" keep not
the exchequer ; for that is *^ crudele latro-
^^ cinium :'*

fourthly, that *^fidelis temeritas" be not
his general; for that will bring but "seram
^^ poenitentiam :"

fifthly, that <f infidelis prudentia" be not
G 2

60

his secretary, for that is ^^ anguig sub virldi
« herba."

To conclude ; as he is of the greatest power,
so he is subject to the greatest cares, made the
servant of his people, or else he were without a
calling at all.

He then that honoureth him not is next
an atheist, wanting the fear of God in his
heart*

OF NOBILITY.

We will speak of nobility first as a portion of
an estate, then as a condition of particular-
persons. A monarchy, where there is no no-
bility at all, is ever a pure and absolute ty-
ranny, as that of the Turks ; for nobility at»
tempers sovereignty, and draws the eyes of the
people somewhat aside from the line royal :
but for democracies they need it not ; and they
are commonly more quiet, and less subject to
sedhion, than where there are stirps of nobles ;.
for men's eyes are upon the business, and not
upon the persons ; or, if upon the persons, it
is for the business sake, as fittest, and not for

61

ffags and pedigree. We see the Switzers last
well, notwithstanding their diversity of religion
and of cantons ; for utility is their bond, and
not respects. The united provinces of the Low
Countrie? in their government excel ; for where
there is an equality the consultations are more
indifferent, and the payments and tributes more
cheerful. A great and potent nobility addeth
majesty to a monarch, but diminisheth power ;
and putteth life and spirit into the people,
but presseth their fortune. It is well when
nobles are not too great for sovereignty nor
for justice ; and yet maintained in that height,
as the insolency of inferiors may be broken
upon them before it come on too fast upon
the majesty of kings. A numerous nobility
causeth poverty and inconvenience in a state^
for it is a surcharge of expence ; and besides^
it being of necessity that many of the nobility
fall in time to be weak in fortune, it maketh
a kind of disproportion between honour and
means.

As for nobility in particular persons, it
is a reverend thing to see an ancient castle or
building not in decay, or to see a fair timber
tree sound and perfect ; how much more to

6^

behold an ancient noble family, which hat^i
stood against the waves and weathers of time t
for new nobility is but the act of power, but
ancient nobility is the act of time. Those that
are first raised to nobility, are commonly more
virtuous, but less innocent, than their decend-
ants ; for there is rarely any rising but by a
commixture of good and evil arts : but it is
reason the memory of their virtues remain to
their posterity, and their faults die with them-
selves. Nobilit}' of birth commojjly abateth
industry ; and he that is not industrious envieth
him that is : besides, noble persons cannot go
much higher; and he that standeth at a slay
when others rise, can liardly avoid motions of
envy. On the other side, nobility extinguish-
eth the passive envy from others towards them,
because they are in possession of honour. Cer^
tainly, kings that have able men of their nobil-
it}^ shall find ease in employing them, and a
better slide into their business ; for people nat-
urally bend to them as born in some sort ta
command.

63

OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES,

Shepherds of people had need know the cal-
endars of tempests in state, which are com*-
monly greatest when things grow to equahty ;
as natural tempests are greatest about the equi-
noctia ; and as there are certain hollow blastfi
of wind and secret swellings of seas before a
tempest, so are there in states :

" Ille etiam caecos instare tumultus

Saepe monet, fraudesque et operta tumuscere bella.*'

Libels and licentious discourses against the state^
when they are frequent and open ; and in like
sort false news often running up and down ta
the disadvantage of the state, and hastily em-
braced, are amongst the signs of troubles. Vir-
gil, giving the pedigree of fame, saith she was
jister to the giants ;

" Illam terra parens, ira irritata deorum,
EYtremam (ut perhibent) CoeoEnceladoque sororem
Progenuit." .Eneid. IV. 177.

As if fames were the relics of seditions past f
but they are no less indeed the preludes oi

seditions to come. Howsoever he noteth it
right, that seditious tumults, and seditious
fames differ no more but as brother and sister,
masculine and feminine ; especially if it come
to that, that the best actions of a state, and the
most plau^ible, and which ought to give greatest
Gontentment, are taken m ill sense and tra-
duced ; for that shews the envy great, as Taci-
tus saith, ^ conflata, magna invidia, seu bene,
^^ seu male, gesta premunt." Neither doth it
follow, that because these fames are a sign of
troubles, that the suppressing of them with too
much severity should be a remedy of troubles;
for the despising of them many times checks
them best, and the going about to stop them
doth but make a wonder long-lived. Also that
kind of obedience which Tacitus speaketh of
is to be held suspected ;. " Erant in officio, sed
'^ tamen qui maileiit mandata imperantium in-
*"* terpretari, quam exequi ;" disputing, ex-
cusing, cavilling upon mandates and directions
is a kind of shaking off the yoke and assay of
disobedience; especially if in those disputings
they which are for the direction speak fearfully
and tenderly, and those that are against it au>
daciouslv.

65

Also, as Machiavel noteth weT!, when
^princes, that ought to be common parents,
make themselves as a party and lean to a side,
it is as a boat that is overthrown by uneven
weight on the one side : as was well seen in
the time of Henry "the third of France ; for
first himself entered league for the extirpation
of the protestants, and presently after the same
league was turned upon himself; for when the
authority of princes is made but an accessary
to a cause, and that there be other bands
that tie faster than the band of sovereignty,
kings begin to be put almost out of posses-
sion.

Also, when discords, and quarrels, and fac-
tions are carried openly and audaciously, it is a
sign the reverence of government is lost; for the
motions of the greatest persons in a government
ought to be as the motions of the planets under
*' primum mobile," (according to the old opi-
nion,) which is, that every of them is -carried
swiftly by the highest motion, and softly in their
own motion ; and, therefore, when great ones
in their own particular motion move violently,
•and, as Tacitus expresseth it well, " liberius
^< quani ut imperantium meminigsent," it is a

6^

sign the orbs arc out of frame ; for reverence is
that wherewith princes are girt from God, who
threateneth the dissolving thereof; *' solvam
<* cingula regura."

So when any of the four pillars of govern-
ment are mainly shaken, or w^eakened, (which
are religion, justice, council, and treasure,)
men had need to pray for fair weather. But
let us pass from this part of predictions, (con-
cerning which, nevertheless, more light may
be taken from that which foUoweth,) and let
us speak first of the materials of seditions, then
of the motives of them, and thirdly of the re-
medies.

Concerning the materials of seditions, it is
a thing well to be considered ; for the surest
■way to prevent seditions, (if the times do bear
it,) is to take away the matter of them ; for
if there be fuel prepared, it is hard to tell
'^^•hence the spark shall come that shall set it
on fire. The matter of seditions is of two
kinds, much poverty and much discontent-
ment. It is certain, so many overthrown
iestates, so many votes for troubles. Lucan
noteth well the state of Rome hefore the civil
war.

67

<* Hlnc usora vorax, rapidumque in tempore foemis,
<' Hinc concussa fides, et multis utUe beilum."

This same, « multis utile bellum," is an a3sured
and infallible sign of a state disposed to sedi-
tions and troubles ; and if this poverty and
broken estate in the better sort be joined with
a want and necessity in the mean people, the
danger is imminent and great ; for the rebel
lions of the belly are the worst. As for discon-
tentments, they are in the politic body like to
humours in the natural, which are apt to gather
a preternatural heat and to inflame ; and let no
prince measure the danger of them by this,
whether they be ju«t or unjust ; for that were
to imagine people to be too reasonable, who do
often spurn at their own good ; nor yet by this,
whether the griefs whereupon they rise be in
fact great or small ; for they are the most dan-
gerous discontentments where the fear is greater
than the feeling : " Dolendi modus, timendi
<' non item :" besides, in great oppressions, the
same things that provoke the patience, do
withal mate the courage ; but in fears it is not
£0 : neither let any prince or state be secure
concerning discontentments because they have
bectt often, or have been long, and yet no
H

65

peril hath ensued; for as it is true that every
vapour or fume doth not turn into a storm,
£0 it is nevertheless true, that storms, though
they blow over divers times, yet may fall at
last ; and as the Spanish proverb noteth well,
*' The cord breaketh at the last by the weakest
« pull."

The causes and motives of seditions are in-
novation in religion, taxes, alteration of laws
and customs, breaking of privileges, general
oppression, advancement of unworthy persons,
strangers, dearths, disbanded soldiers, factions
grown desperate; and whatsoever in offending
people joineth and knitteth them in a common
cause.

For the remedies there may be some gen-
eral preservatives, whereof we will speak : as
for the just cure, it must answer to the particu-
lar disease ; and so be left to counsel rather
than rule.

The first remedy or prevention is to remove
by -all means possible that material cause of
sedition whereof we speak, which is want and
poverty in the estate ; to which purpose serveth
the opening and well balancing of trade ; the
clierishing of manufactures ; the banishing of

6^

idleness ; the repressing of waste and excess
by sumptuary laws ; the improvement and hus-
banding of the soil ; the regulating the prices of
things vendible ; the moderating of taxes and
tributes, and the like. Generally it is to be
foreseen that the population of a kingdom, (es-
pecially if it be not mown down by wars,) do
not exceed the stock of the kingdom which
should maintain them : neither is the population
to be reckoned only by number ; for a smaller
number that spend more and earn less, do wear
out an estate sooner that a greater number that
live lower and gather more : therefore the
multiplying of nobility and other degrees of
quality, in an over-proportion to the common
people, doth speedily bring a state to necessity ;
and so doth likewise an overgrown clergy, for
they bring nothing to the stock ; and in like
manner when more are bred scholars than pre-
ferments can take off.

It is likewise to be remembered, that, foras-
much as the increase of any estate must be up-
on the foreigner, (for whatsoever is somewhere
gotten is somewhere lost,) there be but three
things which one nation selleth unto another .
the commodity as nature yieldeth it; the man-

70

ufecturc ; and the vecture or carriage : so
that if these three wheels go, wealth w ill flow
as in a spring tide. And it cometh many times
to pass, that " materiam superabit opus," that
the work and carriage is more worth than the
material, and enricheth a state more : as is
notably seen in the Low Country men, who
have the best mines above ground in the
world.

Above all things good policy is to be used,,
that the treasure and monies in a state be not
gathered into few hands ; for, otherwise, a state
may have a great stock and yet starve : and
money is like muck, not good except it be
spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing^
or, at the least, keeping a strait hand upon the
devouring trades of usury, ingrossing, great
pasturages, and the like.

For removing discontentments, or, at least,
the danger of them, there is in every state, (as
we know,) two portions of subjects, the nobles
and the commonalty. When one of these is
discontent the danger is not great ; for com-
mon people are of slow motion if they be not
'excited by the greater sort ; and the greater
3ort are of small strength, except the multitude

71

be apt and ready to move of themselves :
then is the danger when the greater sort do but
wait for the troubling of the waters amongst
the meaner, that then they may declare themr
selves. The poets feign that the rest of the
gods would have bound Jupiter, which he hear-
ing of by the counsel of Pallas, sent for Briareus
with his hundred hands to come in to his aid :
an emblem, no doubt, to shew how safe it is
for monarchs to make sure of the good will cf
common people.

To give moderate liberty for griefs and dis-
contentments to evaporate,( so it be without
too great insolency or bravery,) is a safe way ;
for he that turneth - the humours back, and
maketh the wound bleed inwards, endanger-
eth malignj ulcers and pernicious imposthuma^
tions.

The part of Epimetheus might well become
Prometheus in the case of discontentments,
for there is not a better provision against
them. Epimetheus, when griefs and evils flew
abroad, at last shut the lid, snd kept hope in
the bottom of the vessel. Certainly, the poli-
tic and artificial nourishing and entertauiing of
hopes, and carrying men from hopes to hopes
H 2

72

is one of the best antidotes against the poisou
of discontentraents : and it is a certain sign
of a wise government and proceeding when
it can hold men's hearts by hopes, when it
cannot by satisfaction ; and when it can
handle things in such manner as no evil shall
appear so peremptory, but that it hath some
outlet of hope : which -is the less hard to
do, because both particular persons and fac-
tions are apt enough to flatter themselves, or,
at least, to brave that which they believe
not.

Also the foresight and prevention that there
he no likely or fit head whereunto discontent-
ed persons may resort, and under whom they
iiiayjoin, is a known but an excellent point
of caution. I understand a fit head to be one
that hath greatness and reputation, that hath
confidence with the discontented party, and
upon whom they turn their eyes, and that is
thought discontented in his own particular;
which kind of persons are either to be won and
xeconciled to the state, and that in a fast and
true manner ; or to be fronted with some other
of the same party that may oppose them, and
m divide the reputation* Generally, the divid-

ing and breaking of all faction* and combina-
tions that are adverse to the state, and setting
them at distance, or, at least, distrust among
themselves is not one of the worst remedies ;
for it is a desperate case, if those that hold
with the proceeding of the state be full of dis-
cord and faction, and those that are against it
be entire and united.

I have noted that some witty and sharp
speeches which have fallen from princes, have
given fire to seditions. Caesar did himself in-
finite hurt in that speech, '' Sylla nescivit
" literas, non potuit dictare ;^ for it did ut-
terly cut off that hope which men had enter-
tained, that he would at one time or other
give over his dictatorship. Galba undid him-
self by that speech, " legi a se militem, non
<^ emi ;" for it put the soldiers out of hope of
the donative. Probus, likewise, by that speech,
^*si vixero, non opus erit amplius Romano
" imperio militibus ;" a speech of great despair
for the soldiers, and many the like. Surely,
princes had need in tender matter and tick-
lish times to beware what they say, especi-
ally in these short speeches which fly abroad
like darts, and are thought to be shot out of

their secret intentions ; for as for large db-
courses, they are flat things, and not so much
noted.

Lastly, let princes against all events, not
be without some great person, one or rather
more, of military valour, near unto them, for
the repressing of seditions in their beginnings ;
for without that there useth to be more tre-
pidation in court upon the first breaking out
of troubles, than were fit ; and the state rurh
neth the danger of that which Tacitus saith,
^' atque is habitus animorum fuit, ut pessimum
** facinus auderent pauci, plures vellent, omnes
" paterentur ;" but let such mihtary persons
be assured and well reputed of, rather than
factious and popular; holding also good cor-
respondence with the other great men in the
state, or else the remedy is worse than the
disease.

75

OF ATHEISM.

I HAD rather believe all the fables in the le-
gend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran than
that this universal frame is without a mind :
and, therefore, God never wrought miracles to
convince atheism, because his ordinary works
convmce it. It is true that a little philosophy
inclineth man's mind to atheism ; but depth in
philosophy bringeth men's minds about to re-
ligion ; for while the mind of man looketh
upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes
rest in them and go no farther ; but when it
beholdeth the chain of them confederate and
linked together, it must needs fly to provi-
dence and Deity : nay, even that school which
is most accused of atheism, doth most demon-
strate religion ; that is, the school of Leucip-
pus, and Democritus, and Epicurus : for it is a
thousand times more credible, that four muta-
ble elements and one immutable fifth essence,
duly and eternally placed, need no God, than
that an army of infinite small portions, or
seeds unplaced,, should have produced this
order and beauty without a divine marshal.

7a

The scripture saith, " The fool hath said in
" his heart, there is no God ;" it is not said,
^' The fool hath thought in his heart ;" so as
he rather saith it by rote to himself, as that
he would have, than that he can thoroughly
believe it, or be persuaded of it; for none deny
there is a God, but those for whom it maketh
that there were no God. It appeareth in no-
thing more, that atheism is rather in the lip
than in the heart of man, than by this, that
atheists w^ill ever be talking of that their opi^
nion, as if they fainted in it within themselves,
and would be glad to be strengthened by the
consent of others : nay more, you shall have
atheists strive to get disciples, as it fareth with
other sects; and, which is most of all, you
shall have of them that will suffer for atheism,
and not recant ; whereas, if they did truly
think that there were no such thing as God,
why should they trouble themselves ? Epicurus
is charged, that he did but dissemble for his
credit's sake when he affirmed there were
blessed natures, but such as enjoyed themselves
without having respect to the government of
the world ; wherein they say he did tempa»
rize, though, iu secret he thought there \\&s

7/r

MO God : but certainly he is tradiaced_, for hk
words are noble and divine ; " Non Deos vulgi
♦^ negare profanum ; sed vulgi opiniones diis
^ applicare profanum." Plato could have said
no more ; and, although he had the confidence
to deny the administration, he had not the
power to deny the nature. The Indians of the
west have names for their particular gods,
though they have no name for God ; as if the
heathens should have had the names Jupiter,
Apollo, Mars, &c. but not the word Deus ;
which shews, that even those barbarous people
have the notion, though they have not the
latitude and extent of it : so that against athe-
ists the very savages take part with the very
subtilest philosophers. The contemplative athe-
ist is rare, a Diagoras, a Bion, a Lucian per-
haps, and some others ; and yet they seem to
fee more than they are ; for that all that
impugn a received religion or superstition, are
by the adverse part branded with the name of
atheists : but the great atheists indeed are hy-
pocrites, which are ever handling holy things,
but without feeling ; so as they must needs be
cauterized in the end. The causes of atheism
are^ divisions in religion, if they be many ; fdr

78

any one nr^ain division addeth zeal to both
sides, but iiiany divisions introduce atheism :;
another is, scandal of priests, when it is come
to that which St. Bernard saith, " non est jam
" dicere, ut populus, sic sacerdos ; quia nee sic
^' populus, ut sacerdos :" a third is, a custom
of profane scoffing in holy matters, which doth
by little and httle deface the reverence of re-
ligion; and, lastly, learned times, especially
with peace and prosperity ; for troubles and
adversities do more bow men"'s minds to re-
ligion. They that deny a God destroy man's
nobility ; for certainly man is of kin to the
beasts by his body ; and, if he be not of kin to
God by his spirit, he is a base and ignobte
creature. It destroys likewise magnanimity,
and the raising human nature ; for take an
example of a dog, and mark what a generosity
and courage he will put on when he finds
himself maintained by a man, who to him is
instead of a God, or ** melior natura ;'* which
courage is manifestly such as that creature,
without that confidence of a better nature
than his own, could never attain. So man,
•when he resteth and assureth himself upon
divine protection and favour, gathereth a force

V9

and faith which human nature in itself could
not obtain ; therefore, as atheism is in all re-
spects hateful, so in this, that it depriveth
human nature of the means to exalt itself
above human frailty. As it is in particular
persons, so it is in nations : never was there
such a state for magnanimity as Rome ; of
this state hear what Cicero saith, " Q,uam volu-
" mus, licet, patres conscripti, nos amemiis,
'' tamen nee numero Hispanos, nee robore Gal-
*' los, nee calliditate Poenos, nee artibus Gr^e-
*^ cos, nee denique hoc ipso hujus gentis et
*f terrae domestico nativoque sensu Italos ipsos
" et Latinos ; sed pietate, ac reiigione, atque
<f hac una sapientia, quod deorum immorta-
'' Hum numine omnia regi, gubernarique per-
" speximus, omnes gentes nationesque superavi-
" mus."

OF SUPERSTITION.

It were better to have no opinion of God at
all, than such an opinion as is unworthy of
him ; for the one is unbelief, the other is con-
tumely : and certainly superstition is the re-
I

So

jjioach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to
that purpose ; " Surely," saith he, " I had ra-
*' ther a great deal men should say there was
'* no such man at all as Plutarch, than that
'^ they should say that there was one Plutarch,
*^ that would eat his children as soon as they
*^^ were born;" as the poets speak of Saturn :
and, as the contumely is greater towards God,
so the danger is greater towards men. Atheism
leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural
piety, to laws, to reputation ; all which may
be guides to an outward moral virtue, though
religion were not ; but superstition dismounts
all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy
in the minds of men : therefore atheism did
never perturb states ; for it makes men wary
of themselves, as looking no farther, and we
see the times inclined to atheism, (as the time
of Augustus Caesar,) were civil times : but su-
perstition hath been the confusion of many
states, and bringeth in a new '^ primum mo-
^' bile," that ravisheth all the spheres of gov-
ernment. The master of superstition is the
people, and in all superstition wise men follow
fools; and arguments are fitted to practice in
a reversed order. It was gravely said by somp

81

of the prelates in the council of Trent, where
the doctrme of the schoolmen bare great sway,
that the schoolmen were like astronomers,
which did feign eccentrics and epicycles, and
such engines of orbs to save the phienomena,
though they knew there were no §uch things;
and in like manner, that the schoolmen had
famed a number of subtile and intricate axioms
and theorems, to save the practice of the church.
The causes of superstition are pleasing and sen-
sual rites and ceremonies ; excess of outward
and Pharisaical holiness ; over-great reverence
of traditions, which cannot but load the church ;.
the stratagems of prelates for their own am-
bition and lucre ; the favouring too much of
good intentions, which openeth the gate to
conceits and novelties ; the taking an aim at
divine matters by human, which cannot but
breed mixture of imaginatiojis ; and, lastly, bar-
barous times, especially joined with calamities
and disasters. Superstition without a vail is a
deformed thing ; for as it addeth deformity to
an ape to be so like a man, so the similitude of
superstition to religion makes it the more de-
formed : and, as wholesome meat corrupteth
to little v<orm^^, so good forms and orders cor-

82

rupt into a number of petty observances. There
is a superstition in avoiding superstition, when
men think to do best if they go farthest from
the superstition formerly received ; therefore
care should be had that, (as it fareth in ill
purgings,) the good be not taken away with
the bad, which commonly is done when the
people is the reformer.

OF TRAVEL.

Travel in the younger sort is a part of edu=
cation ; in the elder a part of experience. He
that travelleth into a country, before he hath
some entrance into the language, goeth to
school, and not .to travel. That young men
travel under some tutor, or grave servant, I
allow well ; so that he be such a one that hath
the language, and hath been in the country
before; whereby he may be able to tell them
what things are worthy to be seen in the coun-
try where they go, what acquaintances they
are to seek, what exercises or discipline the
place yieldeth ; for else young men shall ga
hooded^ and look abroad little. It is a strange

85

thing, that in sea voyages, where there is no-
thing to be seen but sky and sea, men should
make diaries ; but in land travel, wherein so
much is to be observed, for the most part they
omit it ; as if chance were fitter to be re-
gistered than cbser\'ation : let diaries, there-
fore, be brought in use. The things to be seen
and observed are the courts of princes, espe-
cially when they give audience to ambassadors ;
the courts of justice while they sit and hear
causes ; and so of consistories ecclesiastic ; the
churches and monasteries, with tjie monuments
which are therein extant ; the walls and for-
tifications of cities and towns ; and so the havens
and harbours, antiquities and ruins, libraries,
colleges, disputations, and lectures where any
are ; shipping and navies; houses and gardens
of state and pleasure near great cities; armo-
ries, arsenals, magazines, exchanges, burses,
ware-houses, exercises of horsemanship, fenc-
ing, training of soldiers, and the like : come-
dies, such whereunto the better swt of persons
do resort; treasuries of jew^els and robes;
cabinets and rarities ; and to conclude, what-
soever is memorable in the places where they
go ; after all which the tutors or servants ought
I 2

«4

to make diligent inquiry. A8 for triumphs,
masks, feasts, weddings, funerals, capital exe-
cutions, and such shews, men need not be put
in mind of them; yet are they not to be ne-
glected. If you will have a young man to put
his travel into a little room, and in short time
to gather much, this you must do : first, as was
said, he must have some entrance into the lan-
guage before he goeth ; then he must have such
a servant, or tutor as knoweth the country, as
was likewise said : let him carry with him
also some card or book describing the country
where he travelleth, which will be a good key
to his inquiry ; let him keep also a diary ; let
him not stay long in one city or town, more
or less as the place deserveth, but not long ;
■nay, when he stayeth in one city or town, let
him change his lodging from one end and
part of the town to another, which is a great
adamant of acquaintance ; let him sequester
himself from the company of his countrymen,
and diet in such places where there is good
company of the nation where he travelleth ;
let him upon his removes from one place to
another procure recommendation to some per=
.son of quahty residing in the place whithe*"

is

he removeth, that he may use his favour in
those things he desireth to see or know : thus
he may abridge his travel with much profit.
As for the acquaintance which is to be sough^
in travel, that which is most of all profitable
is acquaintance with the secretaries and em-
ployed men of ambassadors ; for so in travel-
ling in one country he shall suck the experi-
ence of many : let him also see and visit emi-
nent persons in all kinds which are of great
name abroad, that he may be able to tell how
the life agreeth with the fame ; for quarrels,
they are with care and discretion to be avoid-
ed ; they are commonly for mistresses, healths,
place, and words : and let a man beware how
he keepeth company with choleric and quarrel-
some persons ; for they will engage him into
their own quarrels. When a traveller return-
eth home, let him not leave the countries
where he hath travelled altogether behind
him ; but maintain a correspondence by letters
with those of his acquaintance which are of
most worth ; and let his travel appear rather
in his discourse, than in his apparel or gesture ;
and in his discourse let him be rather advised
in his answers, than forward to tell stories :

86

and let it appear that he doth not change his
country manners for those of foreign parts;
but only prick in some flowers of that he hath
learned abroad into the customs of his own
eountrv.

OF EMPIRE.

It is a miserable state of mind to have fev/
things to desire, and many things to fear; and
yet that commonly is the case of kings, who
being at the highest, want matter of desire,
which makes their minds more languishing ;
and have many representations of perils and
shadows, which make their minds the less
clear : and this is one reason also of that ef-
fect which the scripture speaketh of, " That
" the king's heart is inscrutable;" for multi-
tude of jealousies, and lack of some predomi-
nant desire, that should marshal and put in
order all the rest, maketh any man's heart
hard to find or sound. Hence it comes like-
wise, that princes many times make them-
selves desires, and set their hearts upon toys;
sometimes upon a building; sometimes upo.9

87

erecting of an order; sometimes upon the ad-
vancing of a person ; sometimes upon obtain-
ing excellency in some art, or feat of the hand ;
as Nero for playing on the harp ; Domitian
for certainty of the hand with the arrow;
Commodus for playing at fence ; Caracalla for
driving chariots, and the like. This seemeth
incredible unto those that know not the prin-
ciple, that the mind of man is more cheered
and refreshed by profiting in small things,
than by standing at a stay in great. We see
also that kings that have been fortunate con-
querors in their first years, it being not possible
for them to go forward infinitely, but that
they must have some check or arrest in their
fortunes, turn in their latter years to be su-
perstitious and melancholy ; as did Alexander
the Great, Dioclesian, and in our memory
Charles the Fifth, and others ; for he that is
used to go forward, and findeth a stop, falleth
out of his own favour, and is not the thing he
was.

To speak now of the true temper of em-
pire, it is a thing rare and hard to keep ; for
both temper and distemper consist of con-
traries : but it is one thing to mingle con-

88

traries, another to intercliauge them. The an-
swer of Apollonius to Vespasian is full of excel-
lent instruction. Vespasian asked him,\vhat was
Nero's overthrow ? he answered, Nero could
touch and tune the harp well, but in govern-
ment sometimes he used to wind the pius too
high, sometimes to let them down too low ;
and certain it is, that nothing destroyeth au-
thority so much as the unequal and untimely
interchange of power pressed too far, and re-
relaxed too much.

This is true, that the wisdom of all these
latter times in princes' affairs, is rather fine
deliveries, and shiftings of dangers and mis-
chiefs, when they are near, than solid and
grounded courses to keep them aloof: but
this is but to try masteries w^ith fortune ; and
let men beware how they neglect and suffer
matter of trouble to be prepared ; for no
man can forbid the spark, nor tell whence it
may come. The ditficulties in princes' busi-
ness are many and great ; but the greatest
difficulty is often in their own mind ; for it is
common with princes, (saith Tacitus,) to will
contradictories ; *^ Sunt plerumque regum vo-
*^ luntates vehementes^ et inter se gontrariiie ;'*

89

for it is the solecism of power to think to
command the end, and yet not to endure the
means.

Kings have to deal with their neighbours,
their waives, their children, their prelates or
clergy, their nobles, their second nobles or
gentlemen, their merchants, their commons,
and their men of war ; and from all these arise
dangers, if care and circumspection be not
used.

First, for their neighbours there can no
general rule be given, (the occasions are so
variable,) save one which ever holdeth ; which
is, that princes do keep due centinel, that none
of their neighbours do overgrow so, (by in-
crease of territory, by embracing of trade, by
approaches, or the like,) as they become more
able to annoy them than they were ; and this
is generally the work of standing counsels to
foresee and to liinder it. During that trium-
virate of kings, king Henry the eighth of Eng-
land, Francis the first, king of France, and
Charles the fifth emperor, there was such a.
watch kept that none of the three could win
a palm of ground, but the other two would
straighways balance it, either by confederation.

90

or, if need were, by a war ; and would not
in any wise take up peace at interest : and
the like was done by that league, (which,
Guicciardine saith, was the security of Italy,)
made between Ferdinando, king of Naples,
Lorenzius Medices, and Ludovicus Sforsa, po-
tentates, the one of Florence, the other of
Milan. Neither is the opinion of some of the
schoolmen to be received, that a war cannot
justly be made, but upon a precedent injury
or provocation ; for there is no question, but
a just fear of an iminent danger, though
there be no blow given, is a lawful cause of a
war.

For their wives, there are cruel examples
of them. Livia is infamed for the poiscnii2g
of her husband ; Roxolana, Solyman's v\ ife, was
the destruction of that renowned prince. Sultan
Mustapha, and otherwise troubled his house
and succession ; Edward the second of Eng-
land's queen had the principal band in the
deposing and murder of her husband. This
kind of danger is then to be feared chiefly
when the wives have plots for the raising of
their own children, or else that they be advou-
tresses.

91

For their children, the tragedies likewise
of dangers from them have been many ; and ge-
nerally the entering of the fathers into suspicion
of their children hath been ever unfortunate.
The destruction of Mustapha, (that we named
before,) was so fatal to Solyman's line, as the
succession of the Turks from Solyman until this
day is suspected to be untrue, and of strange
blood; for that Selymus the second was thought
to be suppositious. The destruction of Cris-
pus, a young prince of rare towardness, by
Constantinus the Great, his father, was in like
manner fatal to his house, for both Constantinus
and Constance, his sons, died violent deaths;
and Constantius, his other son, did little better,
who died indeed of sickness, but after that
Julianus had taken arras against him. The
destruction of Demetrius, son to Philip the se-
cond of Macedon, turned upon the father, who
died of repentance : and many like examples
there are, but few or none where the fathers
had good by such distrust, except it were
where the sons were up in open arms against
them ; as was Selymus the first against Bajaz-
et, and the three sons of Henry the second
liing of England.

K

92

For their prelates, when they are proud and
great there is also danger from thtm ; as it was
in the times of Anselmus and Thomas Beckett,
archbishops of Canterbur}', who with their cro-
siers did almost try it with the king's i?word;
and yet they had toMeal with stout and haughty
kings, William Rufus, Henry the first, and
Henry the second. The danger is not from
that state, but where it hath a dependence of
foreign authority ; or where the churchmen
come in, and are elected, not by the collation
of the king, or particular patrons, but by the
people.

For their nobles, to keep them at a distance
it is not amiss ; but to depress them may make
a king more absolute, but less safe, and less
able to perform any thing that he desires. I
have noted it in my history of king Henry the
seventh of England, who depressed his nobility,
whereupon it came to pass that his times were
full of difficulties and troubles ; for the nobility,
though they continued loyal unto him, yet did
they not co-operate with him in his business;
so that in effect he was fain to do all things
himself.

For their second nobles, there is not much

93

danger from them, being a body dispersed ;
the}^ may sometimes discourse high, but that
doth Httle hurt ; besides, they are a counter-
poise to the higher nobihty, that they grow
not too potent ; a)id, lastly, being the most
immediate in authority with the common
people, they do best temper popular commo-
tions.

For their merchants, they are ^* vena porta ;^^
and if they flourish not, a kingdom may have
good limbs, but will have empty veins, and
nourish little. Taxes and imposts upon them
do seldom good to the king's revenue, for that
which he wins in the hundred, he loseth in the
shire ; the particular rates being increased, but
the total bulk of trading rather decreased.

For their commons, there is little danger
from them, except it be where they have great
and potent heads ; or where you meddle with
the point of religion, or their customs, or means
of life.

For their men of war, it is a dangerous state
where they live and remain in a body, and are
used to donatives, whereof we see examples in
the janizaries and pretorian bands of Rome ; but
trainings of men, and arming them in several

94

jftlaces, and under several commanders, and
without donatives, are things of defence and no
danger.

Princes are like to heavenly bodies, which
cause good or evil times ; and which have
much veneration, but no rest. All precepts
concerning kings are in effect comprehended in
those two remembrances, " memento quod es
" homo ;" and " memento quod es Deus, or
*< vice Dei ;" the one bridleth their power, and
'-.he other their will.

OF COUNSEL.

The greatest trust between man and man is
the trust of giving counsel ; for in other con-
fidences men commit the parts of life, their
lands, their goods, their children, their credit,
some particular affair ; but to such as they
make their counsellors they commit the whole :
by how much the more they are obliged to ail
faith and integrity. The wisest princes need
not think it any diminution to their greatness,
or derogation to their sufficiency, to rely up-
on counsel. God himself is not without, but

95

hath made it one of the great names of hk
blessed Son, " The Comisellor." Solomon
hath pronounced that, " in counsel is stabili-
*^ ty." Things will have their first or second
agitation : if they be not tossed upon the ar-
guments of counsel, they will be tossed upon
the waves of fortune ; and be full of incon-
stancy, doing and undoing, like the reeling of
a drunken man. Solomon's son found the
force of counsel,, as his father saw the neces-
sity of it ; for the beloved kingdom of God was
first rent and broken by ill counsel ; upon
which counsel they are set for our instruction
the two marks whereby bad counsel is for-
ever best discerned, that it w^as young counsel
for the persons, and violent counsel for the
matter.

The ancient times do set forth in figure
both the incorporation and inseparable con-
junction of counsel with kings, and the wise
and politic use of counsel by kings: the one,
in that they say Jupiter did marry Metis,
which signifieth counsel ; whereby they in-
tend that sovereignty is married to counsel ;
the other in that which foUoweth, which was
thus : they say, after Jupiter was married to
K 2

96

Metis, she conceived by him and was with
child, but Jupiter suffered her not to stay till
she brought forth, but eat her up ; whereby he
became himself with child, and was delivered
of Pallas armed out of his head. Which mon-
strous fable containeth a secret of empire, how
kings are to make use cf their council of state :
that first, they ought to refer matters unto
them, which is the first begetting or impregna-
tion ; but when they are elaborate, moulded,
and shaped in the womb of their council, and
grow ripe and ready to be brought forth, that
then they suffer not their council to go through
with the resolution and direction, as if it de-
pended on them ; but take the matter back
into their own hand?, and make it appear to
the world, that the decrees and final directions,
(which, because they come forth with prudence
and power, are resembled to Pallas armed,)
proceeded from themselves ; and not only from
their authority, but, (the more to add repu-
tation to themselves,) from their head and de-
vice.

Let us now speak of the inconveniences of
counsel, and of the remedies. The incon-
veniences that have been noted in calling and

97

using counsel, are three : first, the reveahng of
affairs, whereby they become less secret : se-
condly, the weakening of the aiithorit}' of prin-
ces, as if they were less of themselves : third-
ly, the danger of being unfaithfully counselled,
and more for the good of them that counsel,
than of him that is counselled ; for which in-
conveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and prac-
tice of France in some kings times, hath intro-
duced cabinet councils ; a remedy worse than
the disease.

As to secrecy, princes are not bound to
communicate all matters with all counsellors,
but may extract and select ; neither is it neces-
sary, that he that consulteth what he should
do, should declare what he will do ; but let
princes beware that the imsecreting of their
affairs comes not from themselves : and, as
for cabinet councils, it may be their motto,
*^ plenus rimarum sum :" one futile person, that
maketh it his glory to tell, will do more hurt
than many, that know it their duty to con-
ceal. It is true there be some affairs which
require extreme secrecy, w^hich will hardly go
beyond one or two persons beside the king :
neither are those counsels unprosperous ; for.

98

besides the secrecy, ihey commonly go on con-
stantly in one spirit of direction without dis-
traction : but then it must be a prudent king,
such as is able to grind with a hand-mill : and
those inw^ard counsellors had need also be wise
men, and especially true and trusty to the king's
ends ; as it was with king Henry the seventh of
England, who in his greatest business imparted
himself to none,excepr it were to Morton and
Fox.

For w^eakness of authority the fable shewv
eth the remedy : nay, the majesty of kings is
rather exalted than diminished when they are
in the chair of council ; neither w^as there ever
prince bereaved of his dependences by his coun-
cil, except where ther« hath been either an
over-greatness in one counsellor, or an over-
strict combination in divers, which are things
soon found and holpen.

For the last inconvenience, that men wiH
counsel with an eye to themselves ; certainly,
" non inveniet fidem super terram," is meant
of the nature of times, and not of all particular
persons. There be that are in nature faithful
and sincere, and plain and direct, not crafty
and involved : let princes above all, draw to

99

themselves such natures. Besides, counsellors
are not cotnmonly so united, but that one
counsellor keepeth centinel over another ; so
that if any counsel out of faction or private
ends, it commonly comes to the king's ear :
but the best remedy is, if princis know tieir
counsellor^;, as well as their counsellors know
them ;

" Principis est virtus maxima nos^e suos."

And on the other side, counsellors should not
be too speculative into their sovereign's person.
The true composition of a counsellor is, rather
to be skilful in their master's business, than in
his nature ; for then he is like to advise him,
and not to feed his humour. It is of singular
use to princes if they take the opinions of their
council both separately and together ; for pri-
vate opinion is more free, but opinion before
others is more reverend. In private men are
more bold in their own humours, and in con-
sort men are more obnoxious to others hu-
mours, therefore it is good to take both ; and
of the inferior sort, rather in private, to pre-
serve freedom ; of the greater, rather in con-
sort, to preserve respect, It is m vain for prin-

100

ces to take counsel concerning matters, if thej
taki- no counsel likewi-se concerning persons;
for all matters are as dead images ; and the
life of the execution of afTairs resteth in the
good choice of persons : neither is it enough to
consult concerning persons, ** secundum gen-
" era," as in an idea or mathematical descrip-
tion, what the kind and character of the person
should be ; for the greatest errors are commit-
ted, and the most judgment is shewn, in the
choice of individuals. It was truly said, " op-
" timi consiliarii mortui ;" ** books will speak
^' plain when counsellors blanch ;" therefore it
is good to be conversant in them, especially
the books of such as themselves have been ac-
tors upon the stage.

The councils at this day in most places are
but familiar meetings, where matters are rar
ther talked on than debated ; and they run
too swift to the order or act of council. It
were better that in causes of weight the mat-
ter were propounded one day and not spoken
to till the next day ; " in nocte consilium :"
so w^as it done in the commission of union
between England and Scotland, w^iich was
a grave and orderly assenat>ly, I commend

101

set days for petitions ; for both it gives the
suitors more ceitainty f»)r their attendance,
and it frees the meetings for matters of estate,
that they may ^* hoc agere." In choice of
committees for ripening business for the coun-
cil, it is better to choose indiiferent persons,
than to make an indifferency by putting in
those that are strong on both sides. I com-
mend also standing commissions; as for trade,
for treasure, for war, for suits, for some pro-
vinces ; for where there be divers particular
councils, and but one council of estate, (as it is
in Spain,) they are, in effect, no more than
standing commissions, save that they have
greater authority. Let such as are to hiform
councils out of their particular professions, (as
lawyers, seamen, mintmen, and the like,) be
first heard before committees ; and then, as
occasion serves, before the council ; and let
them not come in multitudes, or in a tribu-
nitious manner ; for that is to clamour coun-
cils, not to inform them. A long table and
a square table, or seats about the walls, seem
things of form, but are things of substance ;
for at a long table a few at the upper end, in
effect, sway all the business ; but in the other

102

form there is more use of the counsellors'
opinions thai sit lower. A kiiig, wLen he
presides in council, let him beware how he
opens his own inchnation too much in that
which he propoundeth ; for else counsellors
will but take the wind of him, and instead of
giving free council, will sing him a song of
*'* placebo."

OF DELAYS.

Fortune is like the market, where many
times, if you can stay a little, the price will
fall ; and again, it is sometimes like Sibylla's
offer, which at first offereth the commodity at
full, then consumeth part and part, and still
holdeth up the price ; for occasion, (as it is in
the common verse,) turnetli a bald noddle after
she hath presented her locks in front, and no
hold taken ; or, at least, turneth the handle of
the bottle first to be received, and after the
belly, w^hich is hard to clasp. There is surely
no greater wisdom than well to time the be-
ginnings and onsets of things. Dangers are no
more light, if they once seem light ; and more

103

dangers have deceived men than forced them :
nay, it were better to meet some dangers hali
way, though they come nothing near, than to
keep too long a watch upon their approaches ;
for if a man watch too long, it is odds he will
fall aleep. On the other side, to be deceived
with too long shadows, (as some have been
when the moon was low and shone on their
enemies back,) and so to shoot off before the
time ; or to teach dangers to come on by over=
early buckling towards them, is another ex-
treme. The ripeness or unripeness of the oc-
casion, (as we said,) must ever be well weigh-
bd ; and generally it is good to commit the
beginnings of all great actions to Argos with
his hundred eyes, and the ends to Briareus whh
his hundred hands ; first to watch, and then
to speed : for the helmet of Pluto, which mak-
€th the politic man go invisible, is secrecy in
the council, and celerity in the execution ; for
when things are once come to the execution,
there is no secrecy comparable to celerity ; like
the motion of a bullet in the air, which flieth
so swift as it outruns the eye.

104

OF CUNNING.

We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wis-
dom ; and, certainly, there is a great differ-
ence between a cunning man and a wise man,
not only in point of honesty, but in point of
ability. There be that can pack the cards, and
yet cannot play w^ell ; so there are some that
are good in canvasses and factions, that are
otherwise weak men. Again, it is one thing
to understand persons, and another thing to
understand matters ; for many are perfect in
men's humours that are not greatly capable of
the real part of business, which is the constitu-
tion of one that hath studied men more than
books. Such men are fitter for practice than
for counsel, and they are good but in their ow]i
alley : turn them to new men, and they have
lost their aim ; so as the old rule to know a fool
from a wise man, " Mitte ambos nudos ad
" ignotos, et videbis," doth scarce hold for
them ; and, because these cunning men are
like haberdashers of small wares, it is not amiss
to set forth their shop.

105

It is a point of cunning to wait upon hira
with whom you speak with your eye, as the
Jesuits give it in precept; for there be many
wise men that have secret hearts and trans-
parent countenances : yet this would be done
with a demure abasing of your eye sometimes^
as the Jesuits also do use*

Another is, that when you have any thing
to obtain of present despatch, you entertain and
amuse the party with whom you deal with
some other discourse, that he be not too much
awake to make objections. I knew a coun-
sellor and secretary that never came to queen
Elizabeth of England with bills to sign, but
he would always first put her into some dis-
course of estate, that she might the less mind
the bills.

The hke surprise may be made by moving-
things when the party is in haste, and cannot
stay to consider advisedly of that is moved.

If a man would cross a business that he
doubts some other would handsomel}^ and ef-
fectually move, let him pretend to wi.<h it
well, and move it himself in such sort as may
foil it.

The breaking off in the midst of that one

lOG

was about to say, as if he took himself up,
breeds a greater appetite in him, with whom
you confer, to know more.

And because it works better when any thing
seemeth to be gotten from you by question, than
if you offer it of yourself, you may lay a bait
for a question by shewing another visage and
countenance than you are w^ont ; to the end,
to give occasion for the party to ask what the
matter is of the change, as Nehemiah did,
•* And I had not before that time been sad be-
** fore the king."

In things that arc tender and unpleasing it
is good to break the ice by some whose words
are of less weight, and to reserve the more
weighty voice to come In as by chance, so that
he may be asked the question upon the other^«
speech ; as Narcissus did in relating to Claudius
the marriage of Messalina and Silius.

In things that a man would not be seen in
himself, it is a point of cunning to borrow the
name of the world ; as to say, ^^ The world
says," or, ^* There is a speech abroad."

I knew one that, when he wrote a letter, he
.vould put that w^hich w^as most material iii
the postscriDt, as if it had been a bve matter.

107

1 knew another that, when he came to have
speech, he would pass over that that he in-
tended most ; and go forth, and come back
again, and speak of it as of a thing that he had
almost forgot.

Some procure themselves to be surprised at
such times as it is like the party, that they
work upon, will suddenly come upon them,
.and be found with a letter in their hand, or
doing somew^hat which they are not accustom-
ed, to the end they may be apposed of those
things which of themselves they are desirous .
to utter.

It is a point of cunning to let fall those
words in a man's own name which he would
have another man learn and use, and there-
'upon take advantage. I knew two that were
competitors for the secretary's place in queen
Elizabeth's time, and yet kept good quarter
between themselves, and would confer one
with another upon the business ; and the one
of them said, that to be a secretary in the de-
clination of a monarchy was a ticklish thing,
and that he did not affect it : the other straight
caught up those words, and discoursed with
divers of his friends, that he had no reason to
l2

108

desire to be secretary in the declining of e
monarchy. The first man took hold of it, and
found means it was told the queen ; who, hear-
ing of a declination of a monarchy, took it so
ill, as she would never after hear of the other's
suit.

There is a cunning which we in England
call " The turning of the cat in the pan ;'»
which is, when that which a man says to an-
other, he lays it as if another had said it to him ;
and to say truth, it is not easy, when such a
matter passed between two, to make it appear
from which of them it first moved and began.

It is a way that some men have to glance
and dart at othess by justifying themselves by
negatives ; as to say, " This I do not ;" as
Tigellinus did towards Burrhus, " se non di-
^* versas spes, sed incolumitatem imperatoris
^^ simpliciter spectare."

Some have in readiness so many tales and
itories, as there is nothing they would insinu-
ate, but they can wrap it into a tale ; which
serveth both to keep themselves more on guard,
and to make others carry it with more plea-
sure.

It is a good point of cunning for a man Xp

10'^

sliape the answer he would have in his owii
words and propositions ; for it makes the other
party stick the less.

It is strange how long some men will lie in
wait to speak somewhat they desire to say ;
and how far about they will fetch, and how
many other matters they will beat over to come
near it : it is a thing of great patience, but yet
of much use,

A sudden, bold, and unexpected question
doth many times surprise a man, and la}^ him
open. Like to him, that, having changed his
name, and walking in Paul's, another sudden-
ly came behind him and called him by his true
name, whereat straightways he looked back.

But these small wares and petty points of
cunning are infinite, and it were a good deed
to make a hst of them ; for that nothing doth
more hurt in a state than that cunning men
pass for wise.

But certainly some there are that know the
resorts and falls of business, that cannot sink
into the main of it ; like a house that hath
convenient stairs and entries, but never a fair
room : therefore you shall see them find out
pretty looses in the conclusion, but are no ways

110

able to examine or debate matfers : and j'et
commonly they take advantage of tiieir inabil-
ity, and would be thought wits of direction.
Some build rather upon the abusing of others,
and, (as we now say,) putting tricks upon
them, than upon the soundness of their own
proceedings : but Solomon saith, " Prudens ad-
" vertit ad gressus suos : stuitus divertit ad
" dolos."

OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF.

An ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is
a shrewd thing in an orchard or garden; and,
certainly, men that are great lovers of them-
selves waste the public. Divide with reason
between self-love and society ; and be so true
to thyself, as thou be not false to others, espe-
oially to thy king and country. It is a poor
centre of man's actions, himself. It is right
earth ; for that only stands fast upon his own
centre ; w^hereas all things that have affinity
with the heavens, move upon the centre of
another which they benefit. The referring of

Ill

all to a man's self, is more tolerable in a sove-
reign prince, because themselves are not only
themselves, but their good and evil is at the
peril of the public fortune : but it is a despe-
rate evil in a servant to a prince, or a citizen
in a republic ; for whatsoever affairs pass suck
a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own
ends; which must needs be often eccentric to
the ends of his master or state : therefore let
princes or states choose such servants as have
not this mark ; except they mean their service
should be made but the accessary. That which
maketh the effect more pernicious is, that al!
proportion is lost ; it were disproportion enough
for the servant's good, to be preferred before
the master's ; but yet it is a greater extreme,
when a little good of the servant shall carry
things against the great good of the m^aster's :
and yet that is the case of bad officers, trea-
surers, ambassadors, generals, and other false
and corrupt servants ; which set a bias upon
their bowl of their own petty ends and envies,
to the overthrow of their masters great and
important affairs : and for the most part, the
good such servants receive is after the model
of thfiir own fortiuie ; but the hurt thev sell

112

for ihat good is after the model of their maa-
ters fortune : and certainly it is the nature of
extreme self-lover?, as they ^^■ill set an house
on fire, and it were but to roast their eggs ;
and yet these men many times hold credit with
their masters, because their study is but to
please them, and profit themselves; and for
either respect they will abandon the good of
their affairs.

Wisdom for a man's self is in many branches
thereof a depraved thing : it is the wisdom of
rats, that will be sure to leave a house some-
time before it fall : it is the wisdom of the fox,
that thrusts out the badger, who digged and
made room for him : it is the wisdom of croco-
diles, that shed tears when they would devour.
But that which is specially to be noted is, that
those which, (as Cicero says of Pompey,) are,
" sui amantes sine rivali," are many times un^
fortunate : and w-hereas they have all their
time sacrificed to themselves, they become in
the end themselves sacrifices to the inconstancy
of fortune, whose wings they thought by the^
self-wisdom to have pinioned.

1«

OF INNOVATIONS.

As the births of living creatures a^ first are ill
shapen, so are all innovations, which are the
births of time ; yet, notwithstanding, as those
that first bring honour into their family are
commonly more worthy than most that suc-
ceed, so the first precedent, (if it be good,) is
seldom attained by immitation ; for ill, to man's
nature as it stands perverted, hath a natural
motion strongest in continuance ; but good, as
a forced motion, strongest at first. Surely
every medicine is an innovation, and he that
will not apply new remedies must expect new
evils; for time is the greatest innovator; and if
time of course alter things to the worse, and
wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the
better, what shall be the end ? It is true, that
what is settled by custom, though it be not good,
yet at least it is fit : and those things which
have long gone together, are, as it were, con-
federate within themselves ; whereas new
things piece not so well ; but, though they help
by their utility, yet they trouble by their incon-
formity : besides, they are like strangers, more

114

admired, and Ics? favoured. All this is true if
time stood still ; which contrariwise movcth so
round, that a froward retention of custom is as
turbulent a thing as an innovation ; and they
that reverence too much old times are but a
scorn to the new. It were good, therefore, that
men in their innovations would follow the ex-
ample of time itself, which indeed innovateth
greatly, but quietly and by degrees scarce to be
perceived ; for otherwise, whatsoever is new is
unlooked for ; and ever it mends some, and
pairs others : and he that is holpen takes it for
a fortune, and thanks the time ; and he that is
hurt for a wrong, and imputeth it to the author.
It is good ali^o not to try experiments in states,
except the necessity be urgent, or the utility
evident ; and v.'ell to beware that it be the re-
formation that draweth on the change, and not
the desire of change that pretendeth the refor-
mation ; and, lastly, that the novelty, though
it be not rejected, yet be held for a suspect ;
and, as the scripture saith, " That we make a
" stand upon the ancient way, and then look
«f about us, and discover what is the straight
^< and right way, and so to walk in it,"

i

115

OF DISPATCH,

Affected dispatch is one of the most danger-
ous things to business that can be : it is hke
that which the physicians call predigestion, or
-hasty digestion; which is sure to fill the body
full of crudities, and secret seeds of diseases :
therefore measure not dispatch by the times of
sitting-, but by the advancment of the business :
and as, in races^ it is not the large stride, or
high lift, that makes the speed ; so, in business^
the keeping close to the matter, and not taking
of it too much at once, procure th dispatch. It
is the care of some only to come off speedly
for the time, or to contrive some false periods
of business, because they may seem men of dis-
patch : but it is one thing to abbreviate by con-
tracting, another by cutting off; and business
so handled at several sittings or meetings goeth
commonly backward and forward in an un-
steady manner. I knew a wise man that had
it for a by-word, when he saw men hasten to a
eonclusioi), " Stay a little, that we may make
^^ an end the sooner,''
M

116

On the other side, true despatch is a rich
thing ; for time is the measure of business, as
money is of wares ; and business is bought at a
dear hand where there is small dispatch. The
Spartans and Spaniards have been noted to be
of small despatch, " Mi vcnga la muerte de
" Spagna ;" '*Let my death come from Spain ;"
for then it will be sure to be long in coming.

Give good hearing to those that give the first
information in business, and rather direct them
in the beginning, than interrupt them in the
continuance of their speeches ; for he that is put
out of his own order will go forward and back-
ward, and be more tedious while he waits upon
his memory, than he could have been if he had
gone on in his own course : but sometimes it is
seen, that the moderator is more troublesome
than the actor.

Iterations are commonly loss of time : but
there is no such gain of time as to iterate often
the state of the question ; for it chaseth away
many a frivolous speech as it is coming forth.
Long and curious speeches are as fit for despatch
as a robe or mantle with a long train is for
a race. Prefaces, and passages, and excusa-
tions, and other speeches of reference to the

117

person are great wastes of time ; and though
they seem to proceed of modesty, they are
bravery. Yet beware of being too material
when there is any impediment or obstruction
in men's wills; for preoccupation of mind ever
requireth preface of speech, like a fomentation
to make the unguent enter.

Above all things^-order, and distribution, and
singling out of parts is the life of dispatch ; so
as the distribution be not too subtile : for he
that doth not divide will never enter well into
business; and he that divideth too much will
never come out of it clearly. To clioose time
io to save time ; and an unreasonable motion is
but beating the air. There be three parts of
business, the preparation, the debate or exam-
ination, and the perfection ; whereof, if you
look for dispatch, let the middle only be the
work of many, and the first and last the work
of few\ The proceeding upon somewhat con-
ceived in writing doth for the most part facili-
tate dispatch : for though it should be w^holly
rejected, yet that negative is more pregnant of
direction than an indefinite, as ashes are more
generative than dust.

118

OF SEEMING WISE.

It hath been an ophiion that the French are
wiser than the}^ seem, and the iSpaniards seem
wiser than they are : but hoN^'Soever it be be-
tween nations, certainly it is so between man
and man ; for as the apos-tle saith of godhness,
" Having a shew of godhness, but denying the
powder thereof;" so certainly there are in points
of wisdom and sufficienc}^, that do nothing or
little very solemnly : ^^ magno conatu nugas."
It is a ridiculous thing, and fit for a satire to
persons of judgment^ to see what shift these
formalists have, and what prospectives to make
superficies to seem body that hath depth and
bulk. Some are so close and reserved as they
will not shew tlieir wares but by a dark light,
and seem alwajs to keep back somewhat ;
and when they know within themselves that
they speak of that they do not well know^
would nevertheless seem to others to know of
that of which they may not well speak. Some
help themselves with countenance and ges*.
ture, and are wise by signs; as Cicero saith of

119

Pisoj that when he answered him, he fetched
one of his brows up to his forehead, and bent
the other down to his chin ; " respondes, alte-
*"* ro ad frontenf sublato^ altero ad mentum de-
^' presso superciiio, crudeUtatem tibi non place-
^^ re. Some think to bear- it by speaking a
great word, and being peremptory ; and go on,
and take by admittance that which they can-
not make good. Some, whatsoever is beyond
their reach, will seem to despise or make hght
of it as impertinent or curious; and so would
have their ignorance seem judgment. Some
are never without a difference, and common-
ly by amusing men with a subtilty, blanch the
matter ; of whom A. Gellius saith, " hominem
•* delirum, qui verborum minutiis rerum frangit
** pondera." Of which kind also Plato in his
Protagoras bringeth in Prodicus in scorn, and
maketh him make a speech tha.t consisteth of
distinctions from the beginning to the end.
Generally such men in all deliberations find
ease to be of the negative side, and affect a
credit to object, and foretell difficulties ; for
when propositions are denied, there is an end
of them ; but if they be allowed, it requireth a
new work ; which false point of wisdom is the
M 2

120

bane of bui;ine?s. To conclude, there is nc-
decaying merchant, or inward beggar, hath so
many tricks to uphold the credit of then'
wealth as these empty persons have to main-
tain the credit of their sufficiency. Seem-
ing wise men may make shift to get opin-
ion ; but let no man choose them for em-
ployment ; for, certainly, you were better
take for business a man somewhat absurd, than
over-formal.

OF FRIENDSHIP,

It had been hard for him that spake it, to
bave put more truth and untruth together in
few words, tlian in that speech, " Whosoev-
^' er is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast
" or a god ;'^ for it is most true, that a natural
and secret hatred and aversation towards soci-
ety in any man, hath somewhat of the savage
beast ; but it is most untrue, that it should have
any character at all of the divine nature, ex-
cept it proceed, not out of a pleasure in soli-
tude, but out of a love and desire to sequester
^ man's self for a higher conversation : sugh as-

rsi-

13 found to have been falsely and feignedly In
some of the heathen ; as Epimenides the Can-
dian, Numa the Roman, Empedocles the Sici-
lian, and Apollonius of Tyana ; and truly and
really in divers of the ancient hermits, and holy
fathers of the church. But little do men per-
ceive what solitude is, and how far it extend°
eth ; for a crowd is not company, and faces
are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a
tinkling cymbal where there is no love. The
Latin adage meeteth with it a little ; *^ magna
" civitas, magna solitudo ;" because in a great
town friends are scattered, so that there is not
that fellowship, for the most part, which is in
less neighbourhoods : but we may go farther,
and affirm mcrst trul}', that it is a mere and
miserable solitude to want true friends, without
which tlie world is but a wilderness ; and even
in this sense also of solitude, whosoever in the
frame of his nature and affections is unfit for
friendship, he taketh it of the beast, and not
from humanity.

A principal fruit of friendship is the ease and.
discharge uf the fulness of the heart, which
passions of ail kinds do cause and induce. We
l£now diseases of stoppings and suffocations

122

are the most dangerous in the body ; and it is-
not much -otherwise in the mind : you may
take sarza to open the Hver, steel to open the
spleen, flower of sulphur for the lungs, cas-
toreum for the brain ; but no receipt openeth
the heart but a true friend, to whom you may
impart griefij, joys, fears, hopes, suspicions,
counsels, and whatsoever lieth upon the heart
to oppress it, in a kind of civil shrift or con-
fession.

It is a strange thing to observe how high
a rate great kings and monarchs do set upon
this fruit of friendship whereof we speak: so
great as they purchase it many times at the
hazard of their own safety and greatness : for
princes, in regard of the distance of their for-
tune from that of their subjects and servants,
cannot gather this fruit, except, (to make
themselves capable thereof,) they raise some
persons to be as it were companions and al-
most equals to themselves^ which many times
sorteth to inconvenience. The modern lan>
guages give unto such persons the name of fa-
vourites, or privadoes, as if it were matter of
grace or conversation ; but the Roman name
attaineth the true use and cause thereof, nani-

123

iiig them ^^ participes curarum ;" for it is that
which tieth the knot : and we see plainly that
this hath been doae, not b}' weak and passion-
ate princes only, but by tlie wisest and most
politic that ever reigned, who have oftentimes
joined to themselves some of their servants,
whom both themselves have called friends, and
allowed others likewise to call them in the
same manner, using the word which is receis''-
ed between private men.

L. Sylla, when he commanded Rome, raised
Pompey, (after surnamed the great,) to that
heigiit tiiat Pompey vaunted himself for Syl-
ia's over-match; for when he had carried the
consulship for a friend of his against the pur^
suit of Sylla, and that Sylla did a little resent
thereat, and began to speak great, Pompey
turned upon him again, and in effect bade
him be quiet ; for that more men adored the
sun rising than the sun setting. With Julius
Ctcsar, Decimus Brutus had obtained that in-
terest as he set him down in his testament for
heir in remainder after his nephew ; and this
was the man that had power with liim to draw
him forth to his death ; for v^^hen Caesar would
iiave discharged the senate in regard of sorrrc

124

ill presages, and specially a dream of Calpur-
Ilia, this man lifted him gently by the arm out
of his chair, telling him he hoped he would not
dismiss the senate till his wife had dreamed a
better dream ; and it seemeth his favour was
so great, as Antonius, in a letter which is reci-
ted verbatim in one of Cicero's Philippics, call-
ed him " venefica," " witch ;" as if he had
enchanted Caesar. Augustus raised Agrippa,
(though of mean birth,) to that height, as, when
he consulted with Mecaenas about the mar-
riage of his daughter Julia, Mecaenas look the
liberty to tell him, that he must either marry
his daughter to Agrippa, or take away his life ;
there was no third way, he had made him so
great. With Tiberius Cyesar Sejanus had
ascended to that height as they two were
termed and reckoned as a pair of friends.
Tiberius, in a letter to him saith, " haec
" pro amicitia nostra non occultavi ;" and the
whole senate dedicated an altar to friendship,
as to a goddess, in respect of tlie great dear-
ness of friendship between them two. The
like, or more, was between Septimius Severus
and Plautianus ; for he forced his eldest son
to marry the daughter of Plautianus, ajid

125

Tvould often maintain Plautianus in doing af-
fronts to his son : and did write also in a letter
to the senate by these words, '^ I love the
*^ man «o well, as I wish he may over-live me."
Now, if these princes had been as a Trajan, or
a Marcus Aureliiis, a man might have thought
that this had proceeded of an abundant
goodness of nature ; but being men so wise,
of such strength and severity of mind, and so
extreme lovers of themselves, as all these
were, it proveth most plainly that they found
their own felicity, (though as great as ever
happened to mortal men,) but as an half piece,
except they might have a friend to make it en-
tire ; and yet, which is more, they w^ere prin-
ces that had wives, sons, nephews; and
yet all these could not supply the comfort of
friendship.

It is not to be forgotten what Commineus
observeth of his first master, duke Charles the
Hardv, namely, that he would communicate
his secrets with none ; and least of all, those
secrets which troubled him most. Whereup-
on he goeth on, and saith, that towards his
latter time that closeness did impair and a lit-
tle perish his understanding. Surely Co?b-

126

iimieus might have made the same jndgmeiit
also, if it bad pleased him, of his second master,
Lewis, the eleventh, whose cloi^ejiCss was in^
deed his tormentor. The parable of ythagoras
is dark, but true ; *' cor ne edito," " eat not the
heart " Certainly, if a man would give it a
hard phrase, those that want friends to open
themselves unto, are cannibals of their own
hearts : but one thing is most admirablc,(where-
with I will conclude riiis first fruit of friendship,)
which is, that this communicating of a man's
self to his friend works two contrary effects, for
it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in lialfs ;
for there is no man tiiat impartetli his joys to
his friend, but he joyeth the more ; and no
man that imparteth his griefs to his friend, but
he grieveth the less. So t)iat, it is in truth^
of operation upon a man's mind of like virtue
-as the alchymists use to attribute to their stone
for man's body, that it worketh all contrary
eitects, but stiil to the good and benefit of na-
ture : but yet, without praying in aid of al-
chyniists, there is a manifect image of this in
the ordinary course of nature ; for in bodies
imion strengtiieneth and clierishetfi any nat-
ural action ; and^ on tiie other side^, weakenetb

127

and dulleth any violent impression -; and eve^
so is it of minds.

The second fruit of friendship is healthful

and sovereign for the understanding as the

^rst is for the affections ; for friendship maketh

indeed a fair day in the affections from storm

and tempests, but it maketh daylight in the

Hinderstanding out of darkness and confusion

of thoughts : neither is this to be understood

only of faithful counsel, which a man receiveth

Trom his friend ; but before you come to that,

certain it is, that whosoever hath his mind

-fraught with many thoughts, his wits and un-

derstanding do clarify and break up in the

c^ommunicating and discoursing with another ;

he tosseth his thoughts more easily ; he mar-

shalleth them more orderly; he seeth how

they look when they are turned into words ;

finally, he waxeth wiser than himself; and

*that more by an hour's discourse than by a

day's meditation. It was well said by The-

mistocles to the King of Persia, " That speech

" was like cloth of Arras, opened and put

*' abroad :" whereby the imagery doth appear

in figure ; whereas in thoughts they lie but a?

-.in packs. Neither is this second fruit of friend-

N

128

ship in opening the understanding, restrained
only to such friends as are able to give a man
counsel, (they indeed are best,) but even with-
out that a man learneth of himself, and bringeth
his own thoughts to light, and whetteth his
wits as against a stone which itself cuts not.
In a word, a man were better relate himself
to a statue or picture, than to suffer his
thoughts to pass in smother.

Add now, to make this second fruit of
friendship complete, that other point which
lieth more open and falleth within vulgar ob-
servation ; which is faithful counsel from a
friend. Heraclitus saith well in one of his
enigmas, '^ Dry ligbt is ever the best," and
certain it is, that the light that a man receiv-
eth by counsel from another is drier and purer
than that which conieth from his own under-
standing and judgment ; which is ever infused
and drenched in his affections and customs. So
as there is as much difference between the
counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man
giveth himself, as there is between the counsel
of a friend and of a flatterer ; for there is no
such flatterer as is a man's self, and there is no
•auch remedy against flattery of a man's self as

129

the liberty of a friend. Counsel is of two sorts ;:
the one concerning manners, the other con-
cerning bus^iness : for the first, the best preser-
vative to keep the mind in health is the faith-
ful admonition of a friend. The calling of a
man's self to a strict account is a medicine
sometimes too piercing and corrosive ; read-
ing good books of morality is a little flat and
dead ; observing our faults in others is some-
times improper for our case ; but the best re-
ceipt, (best I say to work, and best to take,)
is the admonition of a friend. It is a strange
thing to beiiold what gross errors and extremie
absurdities many, (especially of the greater
sort,) do commit for want of a friend to tell
them of them, to the great damage both of
their fame and fortune ; for, as St. James saith,
they are as men ^' that look sometimes into a
" glass and presently forget their own shape
'^ and favour ;" as for business, a man may
think, if he will, that two eyes see no
more than one ; or, that a gamester seeth al-
ways more than a looker on ; or, that a man
in anger is as wise as he that hath said over
the four and twenty letters ; or, that a musket
may be shot off as well upon the arm as upoa'

ISO

^rest; and such other fond and high imagma>
tions to think himself all in all : but when all
!3 done, the help of good counsel is that which-
setteth business straight ; and if any man
think that he will take counsel, but it shall be
fey pieces ; asking counsel in one busi-
ness of one man, and in another business of
another man ; it is as well, (that is to say,
better perhaps than if he asked none at all,)
?mt he runneth two dangers ; one, that he shall
Bot be faithfully counselled ; for it is a rare
thing, except it be from a perfect and entire
friend, to have counsel given, but such as shall
be bowed and crocked to some ends which he
hath that giveth it : the other, that he shalL
have counsel given, hurtful and unsafe, (though
with good meaning,) and mix partly of mis-
ohief and partly of remedy ; even as if yoit-
would call a physician that is thought good
for tlie cure of the disease you complain of,
but is unacquainted with your body ; and,
therefore, may put you in a way for present
cure, but overthroweth your health in some
other kind, and so cure the disease and kill
the patient : but. a friend that is wholly ac-
-^^uainted with a . man's, estate^^ ^ will hewai"e_j , b.y^

131

forthering any present busine^s;^ how he dash*-
eth upon other inconvenience ; and, there-
fore^ rest not upon scattered counsels ; for they
will rather distract and mislead, than settle
and direct.

After these two noble fruits of friendship^,
(peace in the aifection?_, and support of the
judgment;,) folioweth the last fruit, which is,
like the pomegranate, full of many kernels ; I
mean aid and bearing a part in all actions and
occasions. Here the best way to represent
to life the manifold use of friendship, is
to cast and see how many things there are
which a man cannot do himself; and then it
will appear that it was a sparing speech of the
ancients to 5ay, *^ that a friend is another him-
^'self ; for that a friend is far more than him-
^* self." Men. have their time, and die many
times in desire of some things which they
principally take to heart ; the bestowing of a
child, the finishing of a work, or the like.
If a man have a true friend he may rest almost
secure that the care of those things will con-
tinue after him ; so that a man hath, as it
were, two lives in his desires, A man hath a
body, and that body is confined to a olace ; but
N 2

VST

where friendship is,, all offices oflife are, as if
■were, granted to him and his deputy; for he-
may exercise them by his friend. How many/
things are there which a man cannot with,
any face or comliness say or do himself? A
man can scarce allege his own merits with
modesty, much less extol them ; a man can-
not sometimes brook to supplicate or beg ; and
a number of the like : but all these things are
graceful in a friend's mouth, which are blush-
ing in a man's own. So again, a man's per-
son hath many proper relations which he can-
not put off. A man cannot speak to his son
t)ut as a father ; to his wife but as a husband ; .
to his enemy but upon terms; whereas a.
friend may speak as the case requires, and not
as it sorteth with the person ; but to enumer-
ate these things were endless ; I have given the
rule where a man cannot fitly play his own part^
if he have not a friend he may quit the stage.

13:

OF EXPENSE,

Riches are for spending, and spending for hc--
nour and good actions ; therefore extraordina-
ry expense must be limited by the worth of
the occasion : for voluntary undoing may be
as well for a man's country as for the kingdom-
of heaven ; but ordinary expense ought to be
limited by a man's estate, and governed with
such regard as it be witliin his compass ; and
Bot subject to deceit and abuse of servants ; and
ordered to the best shew, that the bills may be
less than the estimation abroad. Certainly, if.
a man will keep but of even hand, his ordi-
nary expenses ought to be but to the half of"
his receipts; and if he think to wax rich, but
to the third part. It is no baseness for the
greatest to descend and look into their own
estate. Some forbear it, not upon negligence
alone, but doubting to bring themselves into
melancholy, in respect they shall find it broken:
but wounds cannot be cured w^ithout search--
ing. He that cannot look into his own estate
at all had need both choose well those whom,
he employeth^ aud change them, often ; for-

154

new are more timorous and less subtile. Ho
that can loolf into his estate hut seldom, it be-
hoveth him to turn all to certainties. A man
had need, if he be plentiful in some kind of ex.-
pense, to be as saving again in some other: as
if he be plentiful in diet, to be saving in apr
parel ; if he be plentiful in the hall, to be sav-
ing in the stable, and the like : for he that is
plentiful in expenses of all kinds will hardly be
preserved from decay. In clearing of a man's
estate he may as well hurt himself in being
too sudden, as in letting it run on too long ;
for hasty selling is commonly as disadvan-
tageable as interest. Besides, he that clears at
once will relapse ; for,, finding himself out of
straits he will revert to his customs : but he
that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of
frugality, and gaineth as well upon his mind as
upon his estate. Certainly, who hath a state
to repair may not despise small things; and,
eommonly, it is less dishonorable to abridge
petty charges than to stoop to petty getting?.
A man ought warily to begin charges, which
once begun will continue : but, in matters that
return not he may be more magnificent.

135

OF THE TRUE GREATNESS OF KING-
DOMS AND ESTATES.

The speech of Themistocles the Athenian_3
which was haughty and arrogant in taking
so much to himself, had been, a grave and wise
ebservation and censure, applied at large to oth-
eri\ Desired a^ a feast. to touch a lute, he
said, he *^ could not fiddle, but yet he could,
make a small town a great city." These
words, (holpen a little with a metaphor,) may
express two differing abilities in those that
deal in business of estate ; for, if a true surveys
be taken of counsellors and statesmen, there
may be found, (though rarely,) those which
can make a small state great, and yet cannot-
fiddle : as, on the other side, there will be
found a great many that can fiddle very cun-
ningly, but yet are slo far from being able to
make a small state great, as their gift lieth the
other way ; to bring a great and flourishing es-
tate to ruin and decay ; and, certainly, those
degenerate arts and shifts, whereby many coun-
sellors and governors gain both, favour with

138

their masters and estimation with the vulgar^,
deserves no better name than fiddhng ; being
things ratlier pleasing for the time, and grace-
ful to themselves only, than tending to the weal
and advancemeht of the state which they
serve. There are also, (no doubt,) counsel-
lors and governors which may be held suffi-
cient, ^' negotiis pares," able to manage af-
fairs, and to keep them from precipices and
manifest inconveniences ; which, nevertheless,
are far from the ability to raise and amplify an
estate in power, means, and fortune : but be
the workman what they may be, let us speak
of the work; that is^^the the true greatness of
kingdoms and estates ; and the means there-
of. An argument lit for great and mighty
princes to have in their hand ; to the end, that
neither by over-measuring their forces they lose
themselves in vain enterprizes ; nor, on the
other side, b}'' undervaluing them they descend
to fearful and pusillanimous counsels.

The greatness of an estate in bulk and ter-
ritory doth fall under measure ; and the great-
ness of finances and revenue doth fall under
computation. The population may appear
by musters ; and the number and greatness

137

ness of cities and towns by cards and maps ; but
yet there is not any thing, aaiongst civil af-
fairs, more subject to error than the right val-
uation and true judgment concerning the povv*
er and forces of an estate. The kingdom of
heaven is compared, not to any great kernel
or nut, but to a grain of mustard seed; which
is one of the least grains, but hath in it a prop-
erty and spirit hastily to get up and spread.
So are there states great in territory', and yet
not apt to enlarge or command ; and some
that have but a small dimension of stem, and
yet are apt to be the foundation of great mon-
archies.

Walled towns, stored arsenals and armories,
goodly races of horse, chariots of war, ele-
phants, ordnance, artillery, and the like ; all
thi.s it but a sheep in a lion's skin, except the
breed and disposition of the people be stout and
warlike. Nay, number (itself) in armies, im-
porteth not much, where the people is of weak
courage ; for, as Virgil saith, " It never trou^
■" bles the wolf how many the sheep be." The
army of the Persians, in the plains of Arbela,
was such a vast sea of people as it did some-
what astonish the commanders in Alexander's

. . 138

'larmy, who came to him therefore, and wish-
ed him to set upon them by night ; but he an-
>swered, he would not pilfer the victory ; and
the defeat was easy. When Tigranes the Ar»
menian, being encamped upon a hill with four
hundred thousand men, discovered tlie army
of the Romans, being not above fourteen thou-
sand marching to^vards him, he made him-
self merry with it and said, *' Yonder men
^' are too many for an ambassage, and too few
'^ for a fight :" but before the sun set he found
them enow to give them hmi the chase with
infinite slaughter. Many are the examples of
the great odds between number and courage:
so that a man may trul}' m.ake a judgment,
that the principal point of greatness in any
state is to have a race of military men. Nei-
ther is money the sinews of war, (as it is triv-
ially said,) where the sinews of men's arms
in base and effeminate people are failing;
for Solon said well to Croesus, (when in osten-
tation he showed him liis gold,) ^' Sir, if any
«f other come that hath better iron than j^ou,
^f he will be master of all this gold." There-
fore let any prince or state think soberly of his
forces, except his militia of natives be of good

^ 139

and valiant soldiers ; and let princes, on the oih
erside, that have subjects of martial disposition,
know their own strength, unless they be other-
wise wanting unto themselves. As for mer-
cenary forces, (which is the help in this case,)
all examples shew that, whatsoever estate or
prince doth rest upon them, he may spread his
feathers for a time, but he will mew them soon
after.

The blessing of Judas and Issachar will nev-
er meet ; that the same people or nation
should be both the Hon's whelp, and the ass
between burdens : neither will it be, that a
people overlaid with taxes should ever become
valiant and martial. h is true that taxes,
levied by consent of the estate, do abate men^s
courage less ; as it hath been seen notably in
the exercises of the Low countries j and, in
som.e degree, in the subsidies of England ; for
you must note that we speak now of the
heart, and not of the purse ; so that, although
the same tribute and tax, laid by consent or
by imposing, be all one to the purse, yet it
works diversely upon the courage. So that
you may conclude, tliat no people overcharged
with tribute is fit for empire.
o

140

Let states that aim at greatness take heed
how their nobihty and gentlemen multiply
too fast ; for that maketh the common subject
grow to be a peasant and base swine, driven
out of heart, and, in effect, but a gentleman's
labourer. Even as you may see in coppice
woods ; if you leave your straddles too thick,
you shall never have clean underwood, but
shrubs and bushes. So in countries, if the
gentlemen be too many, the commons will be
base ; and you will bring it to that, that not
the hundredth poll will be fit for an helmet ;
especially as to the infantry, which is the nerve
of an army : and so there will be great popu-
lation and little strength. This which I speak
of hath been no where better seen than by
comparing of England and France ; whereof
England, though far less in territory and pop-
ulation, hath been (nevertheless,) an over-
match; in regard the middle people of Eng-
land make good soldiers, which the peasants
of France do not ; and herein the device of
king Henry the seventh, (whereof I have spo-
ken largely in the history of his life,) was pro-
found and admirable ; in making farms and
houses of husbandry of a standard ; that is,

141

maintained with such a proportion of land unto
them as may breed a subject to live in con-
venient plenty, and no servile condiiion ;
and to keep the plough in the hands of the
owners, and not mere hirelings : and thus in-
deed you shall attain to Virgil's character which
he gives to ancient Italy :

*' Terra potens armis atque utere gleboe."

Neither is that state, (which for any thing I
know, is almost peculiar to England, and hard-
ly to be found any where else, except it be
perhaps in Poland,) to be passed over ; I mean
the state of free servants and attendants upon
noblemen and gentlemen, which are no ways
inferior unto the yeomanry for arms ; and
therefore, out of all question,, the splendour and
magnificence, and great retinue^^, the hospital-
ity of noblemen and gentlemen received into
custom, do much conduce unto martial great-
ness : whereas, contrariwise, the close and re-
served living of noblemen and gentlemen caus-
eth a penury of military forces.

By all means it is to be procured, that the
trunk of Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy
be great enough to bear the branches and the

142

boughs ; that is, that the natural subjects of the
crosvn or state bear a sufficient proportion
to the strange subjects that they govern ;
therefore all states that are liberal of naturali-
zation towards strangers are fit for empire :
for to think that an handful of people can, with,
the greatest courage and policy in the world,
embrace too large extent of dominion, it may
hold for a time, but it will fail suddenly. The
Spartans were a nice people in point of natu-
ralization ; whereby, while they kept their
compass,. they stood firm ; but when they did
spread, and their boughs were become too
great for their stem, they became a windfall
upon the sudden. Never any state was, in
this point, so open to receive strangers into
their body as w-ere the Romans ; therefore it
sorted with them according!}^, for they grew
to the greatest monarchy. Their manner was
to grant naturalization, (which they called,,
"jus civitatis,") and to grant it in the highest
degree, that is, not only '^ jus commercii, jus
'^ connubii, jus htereditatis;" but also, '^jus
*^ suffragii, and jus honorum ;" and this not to
singular persons alone, but likewise to whole
''amilies ; yea, to citie>, and sometimes to na^

143

tions. Add to this, their custom of plantartion
of colonies,, whereby the Roman plant was re-
moved into the soil of other nations ; and,
putting both constitutions together, you will
say, that it was not the Romans that spread
upon the w^orld, but it was the world that
spread upon the Romans ; and that was the
sure w-ay of greatness. I have marvelled
sometimes at Spain, how they clasp and con-
t;iin so large dominions with so few natural
Spaniards : but sure the whole compass of
Spain is a very great body of a tree, far above
Rome and Sparta at the first; and, besides,
though they have not had that usage to nata-
ralize liberally, yet they have that which is
next to it ; that is, to employ, almost indiffer-
ently, all nations in their militia of ordinary
ooldiers; yea, and sometimes in their highest
Gommands : iiay, it seemeth at this instant, they
are sensible of this want of natives ; as by
the pragmatical sanction, now published, ap-
pcareth.

It is certain, that sedentary and within-door

arts, and delicate manufactures, (that require

father the finger than the arm,) have in their

nature a contrariety to a inihtarv dispositiou t

0 2

14-4

and generally all warlike people are a little
idle, and love danger better than travail ; nei-
ther must they be too much broken of it, if
they shall be preserved in vigour : therefore it
was great advantage in the ancient states of
Sparta, Athens, Rome, and others, that they
had the use of slaves, which commonly did rid
those manufactures ; but that is abolished, in
greatest part, by the christian law. That which
Cometh nearest to it is, to leave those arts
chiefly to strangers, (which for that purpose
are the more easily to be received,) and to
contain the principal bulk of the vulgar na-
tives within those three kinds, tillers of the
ground, free servants, and handicraftsmen of
strong and manly arts ; as smiths, masons,
carpenters, &c, not reckoning professed sol-
diers.

But, above all, for empire and greatness it-
Importeth most, that a nation do profess arms
as their principal honour, study and occupa-
tion ; for the things which we formerly have
spoken of are but habilitations towards arms*
and what is habilitation without intention and
act ? Romulus, after his death, (as they report-
er feign^) sent a present to the Romans, that ^

145

above all they should intend ai*ms_, and thee
they should prove the greatest empire of the
world. The fabric of the state of Sparta wa^
wholly, (though not wisely,) framed and corn-
posed to that scope and end ; the Persians;
and Macedonians had it for a flash ; the
Gauls, Germans,-Goths, Saxons, Normans, and
others had it for a time ; the Turks have it at
this day, though in great declination. Of
Christain Europe tliey that have it are, in
effect, only the Spaniards : but it is so plain^
that every man profiteth in that he most in-
tendeth, that it needeth not to be stood upon :
it is enough to point at it ; that no nation
which doth not directly profess arms, may
look to have greatness fall into their mouths :
and, on the other side, it is a most certain ora-
cle of time, that those states that continue
long in that profession, (as the Romans and
Turks principally have done,) do wonders ; and
those that have professed arms but for an age
have, notwithstanding, commonly attained
that greatness in that age which maintained
them long after, when their profession and ex-
ercise of arms hath grown to decay.

Incident to this point is for a state to have

14S

those laws or customs which may reach forth
unto them just occasions, (as may be pretend?
ed,) of war ; for there is that justice imprinted
in the nature of men, that tiiey enter not upon
wars, (whereof so many calamities do ensue,)
but upon some, at the least specious, grounds
and quarrels. The Turk hath at hand, for
cause of war,, the. propagation of his law or
sect, a quarrel that he may always command*
The Romans, though they esteemed the ex-
tending the limits of their empire to be great
honour to their generals wheji it was done.,
yet they never rested upon that alone to begin
a war : first, therefore, let nations that pretend
to greatness have this, that they be sensible of
■wrongs, either upon borderers, merchants, or
politic ministers; and that they sit not too long
upon a provocation: secondly, let them be
pressed and ready to give aids and succours to
their confederates ; as it e\ter was with the
Romans ; insomuch, as if the confederates had
leagues defensive with divers other states, and
upon invasion offered did implore their aids
severally, yet the Romans would ever be the
foremost, and leave it to none other to have
the honour, As for the wars, which were

14T

anciently made on the behalf of a kind of-
party, or tacit conformity of estate, I do not
see how they may be well justified : as when
the Romans made a war for the liberty of
Griecia ; or,, when the Lacedaemonians and
Athenians made wars to set up or pull down
democracies and oligarchies ; or when wars
were made by foreigners under the pretence of
justice or protection, to deliver the subjects of
others from tyranny and oppression, and the
like. Let it suffice, that no estate expect to be
great that is not awake upon any just occasion
of armi]igo

No body can be healthful without exercise,
neirher natural body nor politic : and, cer-
tainly, to a kingdom or estate a just and hon-*
curable war is the true exercise.. A civil war,
indeed, is like the heat of a fever ; but a
foreign war is like the heat of exercise, and
serveth to keep the body in health ; for in a
slothful peace both courages will effeminate,,
and manners corrupt : but howsoever it be for
happiness, without all question for greatness,
it maketh to be still for the most part in arms ;,
•cuid the strength of a veteran army, (though it
be a chargeable business,) always on foot, is-

us

that which commonly givet'n the law ; or, at
least, the reputation amongst ail neighbour
states, as may be well seen in S{jain ; which
hath had, in one part or other, a veteran army
almost continually, now by the space of six-
score years.

To be master of the sea is an abridgment
of a monarchy. Cicero, writing to Atticus of
Pompey his preparation against Caesar, saith,
*' Consilium Pompeii plane Themistocleum est;
" putat enim, qui mari potitur, eum rerum
**■ potiri :" and, without doubt, Pompey had
tired out Coesar, if upon vain confidence he
had not left that way. We see the great ef-
fects of battles by sea : the battle of Actiura
decided the empire of the world ; the battle cf
Lepanto arrested the greatness of the Turk.
There be many examples where sea fights have
been final to the war ; but this is when princes
or states have set up their rest upon the bat-
tles ; but thus much is certain, that he that
commands the sea is at great liberty, and may
take as much and as little of the war as he
will; whereas those that be strongest by land
are many times, nevertheless, in great straits.
Surely, at this day, with us of Europe the

149

vantage of strength at sea, (which is one o|
the principal dowries of this kingdom of Great
Britain,) is great ; both because most of th^
kingdoms of Europe are not merely inland,
but girt with the sea most part of their com-
pars ; and because the wealth of both Indies
seems in great part but an accessary to the
command of the seas.

The wars of later ages seem to be made in
the dark in respect of the glory and honour
which reflected upon men from the wars in
ancient time. There be now, for martial en-
couragement, some degrees and orders of chi-
valry, which, nevertheless, are conferred pro-
miscuously upon soldiers, and no soldiers, and
some remembrance perhaps upon the escut^
cheon, and some hospitals for maimed soldiers,
and such like things ; but in ancient times the
trophies erected upon the place of the victory ;
the funeral laudatives and monuments for those
that died in the wars ; the crowns and garlands
personal ; the style of emperor, whicli the
great kings of the world after borrowed ; the
triumphs of the generals upon their return ; the
great donatives and largesses upon the disband-
Ing of the armies, were things able to inflame

150 )

all men's courages ; but above all, that of the
triumph amongst the Roman? was not pageants
or gaudery, but one of the wisest and noblest
institutions that ever was ; for it contained
three things, honour to the general ; riches to
•the treasury out of the spoils ; and donatives
to the army : but that honour, perhaps, were
not fit for monarchies ; except it be in the
person of the monarch himself, or in his sons ;
-as it came to pass in the times of the Roman
emperors, who did impropriate the actual tri-
umphs to themselves and their sons for such
wars as they did achieve in person, and left
only for w^ars acheived by subjects «ome tri-
umphal garments and ensigns to the ge-
neral.

To conclude : no man can by care taking,
(as the scripture saith,) <^ add a cubit to his
** stature," in this little model of a man's body ;
fcut in the great frame of kingdoms and com-
monwealths it is in the power of princes or
-estates to add amplitude and greatness to their
kingdoms ; for by introducing such ordinances,
constitutions, and customs, as we have now
touched, they may sow greatness to their pos-
terity and succession : but these things are

151

commonly not observed, but left to take their
chance.

OF REGIMEN OF HEALTH.

There is a wisdom in this beyond the rules of
physic ; a man's own observation what he
finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is
the best physic to preserve health ; but it is a
safer conclusion to say, " This agreeth not well
*^ with me, therefore I will not continue it ;"
than this, *^ I find no offence of this, therefore
*^ I may use it ;" for strength of nature in youth
passe th over many excesses which are owing a
man till his age. Discern of the coming on
of years, and think not to do the same thJjigs
still ; for age will not be defied. Beware of
sudden change in any great point of diet, and
if necessity enforce it, fit the rest to it ; for it
is a secret both in nature and state, that it is
safer to change many things than one. Ex-
amine thy customs of diet, sleep, exercise, ap-
parel, and the like ; and try in aiiy thing thou
shalt judge hurtful^ to discontinue it by little
^nd little ; but so, as if thou dost find any in-
p

152

convemence by the change, thou come back
to it again : for it is hard to distinguish that,
which is generally held good and wholesome,
from that, which is good particularly, and fit
for thine own body. To be freeminded and
cheerfully disposed at hours of meat and sleep,
and of exercise, is one of the best precepts of
long lasting. As for the passions and studies
of the mind, avoid envy, anxious fears, anger
fretting inwards, subile and knotty inquisitions,
joys and exhilarations in excess, sadness not
communicated. Entertain hopes, mirth rather
than joy, variety of delights, rather than sur-
feit of them ; w^onder and admiration, and
therefore novelties ; studies that fill the mind
with splendid and illustrious objects, as histo-
ries, fables, and contemplations of nature. If
you fly physic in health altogether, it vj'iW be
too strange for your body when you shall
need it ; if you make it too familiar, it will
work no extraordinary effect when sickness
Cometh, I commend rather some diet for
certain seasons, than frequent use of physic,
except it be grown into a custom ; for those
diets alter the body more, and trouble it less.
Despise no new accident in your body, but ask

153

eplnion of it. In sickness, respect health prin-
cipally ; and in health, action : for those that
put their bodies to endure in health, may in
most sicknesses which are not very sharp, be
eared only with diet and tendering. Celsus
could never have spoken it as a physician, had
he not been a svise man withal, when he giv-
eth it for one of the great precepts of health
and lasting, that a man do vary and inter-
change contraries ; but with an inclination to
the more benign extreme : use fasting and full
eating, but rather full eating ; watching and
sleep, but rather skep ; sitting and exercise,
but rather exercise, and the like : so shall na-
ture be cherished, and yet taught masteries.
Physicians are some of them so pleasing and
conformable to the humour of the patient, a3
they press not the true cure of the disease ;
and some other are so regular in proceeding
according to art for the disease, as they respect
not sufficiently the condition of the patient.
Take one of a middle temper ; or, if it may
not be found in one man, combine two of
either sort ; and forget not to call as well the
best acquainted with your body, as the best
reput ed of for his faculty.

154

OF SUSPICION.

Suspicions amongst thoughts are like bats,
amongst birds, they ever fly by twihght : cer-
tainly they are to be repressed, or, at the least,
well guarded ; for they cloud the mind, they
.lose friends, and they check with business,
whereby business cannot go on currently and
eonstantl}' : they dispose kings to tyranny, hus-
bands to jealousy, wise men to irresolution and
melancholy : they are defects, not in the heart
but in the brain ; for they take place in the
stoutest natures ; as in the example of Henry
the seventh of England ; there was not a more
suspicious m.an nor a more stout : and in such
a composition they do small hurt; for com-
monly they are not admitted but with exami-
nation, whether they be likely or no ? but in
fearful natures they gain ground too fast.
There is nothing makes a man suspect much,
inore than to know little ; and, therefore, men
.should remedy suspicion by procuring to know
more, and to keep their suspicions in smother.
What would men have ? do they think those

155

ttiey employ and deal with are saints ? do
they not think they will have their own ends,
and be truer to themselves than to them ?
therefore there is no better way to moderate
suspicions, than to account upon such suspi-
cions as true, and yet to bridle them as false :
for so far a man ought to make use of suspi-
cions as to provide, as if that should be true
that he suspects, yet it may do him no hurt.
Suspicions that the mind of itself gathers are
but buzzes ; but suspicions that are artificially
nourished, and put into men's heads by the
tales and whisperings of others, have stings.
Certainh', the best mean to clear the w'ay in
this same wood of suspicions, is frankly to com-
municate them with the party that he sus-
pects ; for thereby he shall be sure to know
more of the truth of them than he did before ;.
and withal shall make that party more circum-
spect not to give further caui^e of suspicion :
but this would not be done to men of base na-
tures; for they,. if they find themselves once
suspected, will never be true. The Italian says^
" Sospetto licentia fede ;" as if suspicion did
give a passport to faith; but it ought rather to
kindle it to discharge itself.,
r 2

156

OF DISCOURSE.

Some in their discourse desire rather commen-
dation of wit, in being able to hold all argu-
ments, than of judgment, in discerning what
is true ; as if it were a praise to know what
might be said, and not what should be thought.
Some have certain common places and themes,
v/hereiii they are good, and want variety ;
which kind of poverty is for the most part te-
dious, and, when it is once perceived, ridicu*
lous. The honourablest part of talk is to give
the occasion ; and again to moderate and
pass to FomeW'hat else, for then a man leads
the dance. It is good in discourse, and speech
of conversation, to vary and intermingle speech
of the present occasion with arguments, tales
with reasons, asking of questions with telling
of opinions, and jest with earnest ; for it is a
cluU thing to tire, and as we say now^, to jade
any thing too far. As for jest, there be cer-
tain things w^hich ought to be privileged from
it ; namely, religioi?, matters of state, great
persons, any man's present business of jmpor-

157

tance, and any case that deserveth pity ; yet
there be some that think their wits have been
asleep, except they dart out somewhat that is
piquant, and to the quick: that is a vein which
would be bridled ;

"Parce puer stimulis, et fortius utere Ion's."

And, generally, men ought to find the differ-
ence between saltness and bitterness. Cer-
tainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he
maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had
need be afraid of other's memory. He that
questioneth much shall learn much, and con-
tent much ; but especially if he apply his ques-
tions to the skill of the persons whom he ask-
eth ; for he shall give them occasion to please
themselves in speaking, and himself shall con-
tinually gather knowledge ; but let his ques-
tions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a
poser ; and let him be sure to leave other men
their turns to speak : nay, if there be any that
would reign and take up all the time, let him
find means to take them off, and bring others
on : as musicians use to do with those that
dance too long galliards. If you dissemble
sometimes your knowledge of that you are

153

thought to know, you shall be thought another
time to know that you know not. Speech
of a man's self ought to be seldom, and well
chosen. I knew one was wont to say in
scorn, '^ He must needs be a wise man, he
*^ speaks so much of himself :" and there is but
one case wherein a man may commend him-
self with good grace, and that is in commend*
ing virtue in another; especially if it be such-
a virtue whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech
of touch towards others should be sparingly
used; for discourse ought to be as a fields
■without coming home to any man. I knew
two noblemen of the west part of England,
whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept
ever royal cheer in his house ; the other would
ask of those that had been at the other's table,
^^ Tell truly, was there never a flout or dry
^^ blow given ?" to which the guest would
an!swer, " Such and such a thing passed ;" the
lord would say, " I thought he would mar a
*f good dinner." Discretion of speech is more
than eloquence ; and to speak agreeably to
him whh whom we deal, is more than to speak
in good words, or in good order. A good
continued speech without a good speech of

159

interlocution shews slowness ; and a good re-
ply, or second speech, without a good settled
speech, sheweth shallowness and weakness.
As we see m beasts, that those, that are weak-
est in the course, are yet nimblest in the turn ;
as it is betwixt the greyhound and the hare*
To use too many circumstances ere one come
to the matter is wearisome ; to use none at all
is blunt.

OF PLANTATIONS.

Plantations are amongst ancient, primi-
tive, and heroical works, \yhen the world was
young it begat more children ; but now it is
old it begets fewer : for I may justly account
new plantations to be the children of former
kingdoms. I like a plantation in a pure soil ;
that is, where people are not displanted to the
end to plant in others ; for else it is rather an
extirpation than a plantation. Planting of
countries is like planting of woods ; for you
must make account to lose almost twentyyear's
profit, and expect your recompense in the end :
for the principal thing that hath been the

160

destruction of most plantations, hath been the
base and hasty drawing of profit in the first
year?. It is true, speedy profit is not to be
neglected as far as may stand with the good
of the plantation, but no farther. It is a
shameful and unblessed thing to take the scum
of people and wicked condemned men, to be
thf people with whom you plant ; and not
only so, but it spoileth the plantations ; for they
will ever live like rogues, and not fall to work,
but be lazy, and do mischief, and spend vic-
tuals, and be quickly weary, and then certify
over to their country to tlie discredit of the
plantation. The people wherewith you plant
ought to be gardners, ploughmen, labourers,
smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, fowlers,
with some few apothecaries, surgeons, cooks,
and bakers. In a country of plantation first
look about what kind of victual the country
yields of itself to hand ; as chesnuts, walnuts,
pine-apples, olives, dates, plums,, cherries, wild
honey, and the like, and make use of them.
Then consider what victual, or esculent things
there are, which grow speedily, and within
the year ; as parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions,
raddish, artichokes of Jerusalem;, maise, and

'ihe like : for wi'eat, barley, and oats, they ask
too much labour ; but with pease and beans
ycu inay begin ; both because they ask less
labour, and because they serve for meat, as
well as for bread ; and of rice likewise cometh
a great increase, and it is a kind of meat.
Above all there ought to be brought store of
biscuit, oatmeal, flower, meal, and the like
in the beginning, till bread may be had. For
beasts or birds, take chiefly such as are least
subject to diseases, and multiply fastest ; as
swine, goats, cocks, hens, turkeys, geese,
house-doves and the like. The victual in plan-
tations ought to be expended almost as in a~
besieged town ; that is, with certain allow-
ance ; and let the main part of the ground
employed to gardens or corn, be to a common
stock ; and to be laid in, and stored up, and
then delivered out in proportion ; besides some
spots of ground that any particular person will
manure for his own private use. Consider, like-
wise, what commodities the soil where the
plantation is doth naturally yield, that they
may some way help to defray the charge of
the plantation ; so it be not, as was said, to
the untimely prejudice of the main business :

162

as it hath fared with tobacco in Virginia.
Wood commonly aboundeth but too much ;
and therefore timber is fit to be one. If there
be iron ore, and streams whereupon to set the
mills, iron is a brave commodity where wood
aboundeth. Making of bay-salt, if the climate
be proper for it, would be put in experience ;
growing silk likewise, if any be, is a likely'
commodity : pitch and tar, where store of firs
and pines are, will not fail ; so drugs and sweet
woods, where they are, cannot but yield great
profit ; soap ashes likewise, and other things
that may be thought of : but moil not too
much under ground, for the hope of mines is
very uncertain, and useth to make the planters
lazy in other things. For government, let it
be in the hands of one assisted with some coun-
sel ; and let them have commission to exercise
martial laws with some limitation ; and, above
all, let men make that profit of being in the
wilderness, as they have God always, and his
service before their eyes . let not the govern-
ment of the plantation depend upon too many
counsellors and undertakers in the country
that planteth, but upon a temperate number ^
and let those be rather noblemen and gentle-

163

men, than merchants ; for they look ever to
the present gain : let there be freedoms from
custom till the plantation be of strength ; and
not only freedom from custom, but freedom to
carry their commodities where they may make
their best of them, except there be some special
cause of caution. Cram not in people, by send-
ing too fast company after company ; but ra-
ther hearken how they waste, and send sup-
plies proportionably ; but so as the number may
live well in the plantation, and not by surcharge
be in penury. It hath been a great endanger-
ing to the health of some plantations that ti-ey
have built along the sea and rivers, in maricih
and unwholesome grounds : therefore, though;
you begin there to avoid carriage and ollier-
iike discommodities, yet build still rather up-
wards from the streams, than along. It con-
cerneth likewise the health of the plantation
that they have good store of sait with them,
that they may use it in their victuals when it
shall be necessary. If you plant where sava-
ges are, do not only entertain them with tniles
and gingles ; but use them justly and gracious-
ly, w^ith sufficient guard nevertheless ; and do
not win their favour by helping them to invade

164

fheir enemies, but for their defence it is not
amiss ; and send oft of them over to the coun-
try that plants, that they may see a better
condition than their own, and commend it
■when they return. When the plantation grows
to strength, then it is time to plant with wo-
men as well as with men ; that the plantation
may spread into generations, and not be ever
pierced from without. It is the sinfullest
thing in the world to forsake or destitute a
plantation once in forwardness; for, besides
the dishonour, it is the guiltiness of blood of
many commiserable persons.

OF RICHES.

I CANNOT call riches better than the baggage
of virtue ; the Roman word is better, " im-
pedimenta ;" for as tlie baggage is to an ar-
my, so is riches to virtue ; it cannot be spared
nor left behind, but it hindereth the march ;
yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or
distJirbeth the victory : of great riches there is
no real use, except it be in the distribution ;
tlie rest is but conceit ; so saith Solomon ;

165

^ WFiere much is, there are many to consume
^^it; and what hath the owner but the sight
of it with his eyest^' The personal fruition
in any man cannot reach to feel great riches :
there is a custody of them ; or a power of
dole and donative of them ; or a fame of
them ; but no solid use to the owner. Do
you not see what feigned prices are set upon
little stones and rarities ? and what works of
ostentation are undertaken, because there
might seem to be some use of great riches ?
But then you will say, they may be of use to
buy men out of dangers or troubles; as Solo-
mon saith, *^ Riches are as a strong hold in
"the imagination of the rich man:" but this
is excellently expressed, that it is in imagina-
tion, and not always in fact; for, certainly,
great riches have sold miore men than they
have bought out. Seek not proud riches, but
such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly,
distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly ;
yet have no abstract or friarly contempt of
them ; but distinguish, as Cicero saith well of
Rabirius Posthumus, ^' in studio rci amplifi-
^' candte apparebat, non avaritiie pri^dam, sed.
<^ instrumentum bonitati quyeri,'^ Hearken also

166

to Solomon, and beware of hasty gathering of
riches ; '' Qui festinat ad divitias, non erit
*' inson-" The poets feign, that when Phitus,
(which is riches,) is sent from Jupiter, he
limps, and goes slowly ; but when he is sent
from Pluto, he runs, and is swift of foot ;
afneaning, that riches gotten by good means
and just labour pace slowly ; but when they
come by the death of others, (as by the course
of inheritance, testaments, and the lil^e,) they
tome tumbling upon a man : but it might be
applied likewise to Pluto taking him for the
devil: for when riches come from the devil,
(as by fraud and oppression, and unjust means,)
they come upon speed. The w^ays to enrich
are many, and most of them foul : parsimony
is one of the best, and yet is not innocent : for
it w itliholdeth men from works and liberality
and charity. The improvement of the ground
:s the most natural obtaining of riches ; for it
is our great mother-s blessing, the earth; but
it is slow : and yet, where men of great wealth
do stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches
exceedingly. I knew a nobleman of England
that had the greatest audits of any man in my
lime; a great grazier, a great sheep master, a

167

great timber man, a great collier, a great corn
master, a great lead maa, and so of iron, and
a number of the like points of husbandry ; so
as the earth seemed a saa to him in respect of
the perpetual importation. It was truly observed
by one, ^* That himself came very hardly to a
" little riches, and very easily to great riches;'*
for when a man's stock is come to that, that
he can expect the prime of markets, and over-
come those bargains, which for their greatness
are few men's money, and be partner in the
industries of younger men he cannot but in-
crease mainly. The gains of ordinary trades
and vocations are honest, and furthered b}' two
things, chiefly, by diligence, and by a good
name for good and fair dealing; but the gains
of bargains are of a more doubtful nature^
when men shall wait upon others necessity ;
broke by servants and instruments to draw
them on ; put off other? cunningly that would
be better chapmen, and the like practices,
■which are crafty and naught : as for the chop-
ping of bargains, when a man buys not to hold
but to sell over again, that commonly grind-
cth double, both upon the seller and upon the
buyer. bharings do greatly enrich if tlie

168

bands be well chosen that are trusted. Usury
is the certainest means of gain, though one of
the worst, as that whereby a man doth eat his
bread, ^^ in sudore vultus alieni ;" and besides,
doth plough upon Sundays : but yet certain
though it be, it hath flaws ; for that the scri-
veners and brokers do value unsound men to
serve their own turn. The fortune, in be-
ing the first in an invention or in a privilege,
doth cause sometimes a wonderful overgrowth
in riches ; as it was with the first sugar man
in the Canaries : therefore, if a man can play
the true logician, to have as well judgment as
invention, he may do great matters, especially
if the times be fit : he that resteth upon gains
certain, shall hardly grow to great riches ; and
he that puts all upon adventures, doth often-
times break and come to poverty : it is good,
therefore, to guard adventures with certainties
that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and co-
emption of wares for resale, where they are
not restrained, are great means to enrich; es-
pecially if the party have intelligence what
things are like to come into request, and so
store himself before hand. Riches gotten by
?ervice^ though it be of the best rise^ yet when

169

they are gotten by flattery, feeding humours,
and other servile conditions, they may be plac-
ed amongst the worst. As for fishing for tes-
taments and executorships, (as Tacitus saith of
Seneca, '' testmenata et orbos tanquam inda-
" gine capi,") it is yet worse, by how much men
submit themselves to meaner persons than in
service. Believe not much them that seem to
despise riches, for they despise them that despair
of them ; and none worse when they come
to them. Be not penny wise ; riches have
wings, and sometimes they fly away of them-
selves, sometimes they must be set flying to
bring in more. Men leave their riches either
to their kindred, or to the public ; and moder-
ate portions prosper best in both. A great es-
tate left to an heir, is as a lure to all the birds
of prey round about to seize on him, if he be
not the better established in years and judg-
ment : likewise, glorious gifts and foundations
are like sacrifices without salt ; and but the
painted sepulchres of alms, which soon will pu-
trify and corrupt inwardl}^ : therefore measure
not thine advancements by quantity, but frame
them by measure : and defer not charities till
death ; for, certainly, if a man weigh it rightly.

170

he that doth so is rather liberal of another
man's than of his own.

OF PROPHECIES.

I MEAN not to speak of divine prophecies, nor
of heathen oracles, nor of natural predictions ;
but only of prophecies that have been of cer-
tain memor}', and from hidden causes. Saith
the Pythonissa to Saul, '' To-morrow thou and
*' thy son shall be with me." Virgil hath these
verses from Homer :

*< At domus iEneay cimctis dominahitur oris,

Et nati natorum,et qui nascentur,ab illis." ^n.iii.dT.

A prophecy as it seems of the Roman empire.
Seneca the tragedian hath these verses :

Venient annis

Ssecula seris, qnibiis oceanns
Vincala rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos
Detegat orhes ; nee iit terris
Ultima Thule :"

a prophecy of the discovery of America. The
daughter of Polycrates dreamed that Jupiter

, 171

bathed her father, and Apollo anointed him ;
and it came to pass that he was crucified in an
open place, where the sun made hi? body run
with sweat, and the rain washed it. Philip
of Macedon dreamed he sealed up his wife's
belly ; whereby he did expound it, that his
wife should be barren ; but Aristander the
soothsayer told him his wife was with child,
because men do not use to seal vessels that are
empty. A phantasm that appeared to M.
Brutus in his tent, said to him, " Phillippis
" iterum me videbis." Tiberius said to Galba,
*^ tu quoque, Galba, degustabis imperium,"
In Vespasian's time there w^ent a prophecy
in the East, that those that should come forth
of Judea, should reign over the world; which
though it may be was meant of our Saviour,
yet Tacitus expomids it of Vespasian. Domi-
tian dreamed, the night before he was slain,
that a golden head was growing out of the
nape of his neck ; and indeed the succession
that followed him, for many years, made
golden times. Henry the sixth of England
said of Henry the seventh, when he was a lad,
and gave him water, " This is the lad that
shall enjoy the crown for which we strive.''

172

When I was in France, I heard from one
Dr. Pena, that the queen mother, who was
given to curious arts, caused the king her hus-
band's nativity to be calculated under a false
name ; and the astrologer gave a judgment,
that he should be killed in a duel; at which
the queen laughed, thinking her husband to be
above challenges and duels : but he was slain
upon a course at tilt, the splinters of the staff
of Montgomery going in at his bever. The
trivial prophecy which I heard when I was a
child, and queen Elizabeth was in the flower
©f her years, was ;

" When hempe is spun,
England's done."

whereby it was generally conceived, that after
the princes had reigned which had the princi-
pal letters of that word hempe, (which w^ere
Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and EHzabeth,)
England should come to utter confusion ; which
thanks be to God, is verified in the change of
the name ; for that the king's style is now
no more of England but of Britain. There
was also another prophecy before the year of
eighty-eight, which I do not well understand-.

173

*' There shall be seen upon a davj
Between the Baugh aiid Jhs May,
The black fleet of Norway.
When that is come and gone,
England build houses of lime and stone,
For after wars you shall have none."

It was generally conceived to be meant of the
Spanish fleet that came in eighty-eight ; for
that the king of Spain's surname, as they say,
is Norway. The prediction af Regiomonta-
nus,

" Octogesimus octavtis mirabilis annus:''

was thought likewise accomplished in the send-
ing of that great fleet, being the greatest in
strength, though not in number, of all that
ever swam upon the sea. As for Cleon's
dream, I think it was a jest : it was, that he
was devoured of a long dragon ; and it was
expounded of a maker of sausages, that trou-
bled him exceedingly. There are numbers of
the like kind ; especially if you include dreams,
and predictions of astrology ; but I have set
down these few only of certain credit, for
example. My judgment is, that they ought

174

all to be despised, aud ought to serve but for
winter talk by the fire side. Though when I
say despised, I mean it as for belief; for other-
wise, the spreading or publishing of them is in
no sort to be despised; for they have done
much mischief; and I see many severe law?
made to suppress them. That, that hath given
them grace and some credit, consisteth in
three things. First, that men mark when they
hit, and never mark when they miss ; as they
do, generally, also of dreams. The second is,
that probable conjectures, or obscure tradi-
tions, many times turn themselves into pro-
phecies; while the nature of man, which cov-
ereth devination, thinks it no peril to foretel
that which indeed they do but collect ; as
that of Seneca's verse ; for so much was then
subject to demonstration, that the globe of the
earth had great parts beyond the Atlantic,
which might be probably coiiceived not to be
all sea : and adding thereto the tradition in
Plato's Timaeus, and his Atlanticus, it n.ight
encourage one to turn it to a prediction. The
third and last, (which is the great one,; is that
almost all of them, being infinite in number,
have been impostures, and by idle and crafty

175

brains, merely contrived and feigned^ after the
event past.

OF AMBITION,

Ambition is like choler, which is an humour
that maketh men active, earnest, full of alacri-
ty, and stirring, if it be not stopped : but if it
be stopped, and cannot have its way, it be-
cometh adust, and thereby malign and ven-
omous : so ambitious men, if they find the
way open for their rising, and still get forward,
they are rather busy than dangerous ; but if
they be checked in their desires, they become
secretly discontent, and look upon men and
matters with an evil eye, and are best pleased
when things go backv^'ard ; which is the worst
property in a servant of a prince or state?
therefore it is good for princes;, if they use
ambitious men, to handle it so, as they be still
progressive, and not retrogade ; which, be-
cause it cannot be without inconvenience, it
IS good not to use such natures at all ; for if
they rise not with their service they will take
order to make their service fall with them,
R

176

But since we have said, it were good not to
use men of ambitious natures, except it be up-
on necessity, it is fit we speak in what cases
they are of necessity. Good commanders in
the wars must be taken, be they never so am-
bitious ; for the use of their service dispenseth
with the rest ; and to take a soldier without
ambition, is to pull off his spurs. There is also
great use of ambitious men in being screens
to princes in matters of danger and envy ; for
no man will take that part, except he be like
a seeled dove, that mounts and mounts, be-
cause he cannot see about him. There is use
also of ambitious men in pulling down the
greatness of any subject that overtops ; as Ti-
berius used Macro in the pulling down of Se-
janus. Since therefore they must be used in
such cases, there resteth to speak how they
are to be ridled, that they may be less danger-
ous : there is less danger of them if they be of
mean birth, than if they be noble ; and if they
be rather harsh of nature, than gracious and
popular; and if they be rather new raised,
than grown cunning and fortified in their
greatness. It is counted by some a weakness
in princes to have favourites; but it is, of al?

177

others, the best remedy against ambitious great
ones ; for when the way of pleasuring and dis-
pleasuring lieth by the favorite, it is impossi-
ble any other should be over great. Another
means to curb them is to balance them by
others as proud as they : but then there must
be some middle counsellors to keep things
steady ; for without that ballast the ship wiU
roll too much. At the least, a prince may
animate and inure some meaner persons to be,
as it were, scourges to ambitious men. As for
the having of them obnoxious to ruin, if they
be of fearful natures, it may do well ; but if
they be stout and daring, it may precipitate
their designs, and prove dangerous. As for
the pulling of them down, if the aftairs require
it, and that it may not be done with safety
suddenh', the only way is, the interchange con-
tinually of favours and di.<graces, whereby they
may not know what to expect, and be, as it
were, in a wood. Of ambitions, it is less
harmful the ambition to prevail in great things,
than that other to appear in every thing ; for
that breeds confusion, and mars business : but
yet it is less danger to have an ambitious man
stirring in business, than great in dependences..

178

He that seeketh to be eminent amongst able
men hath a great task ; but that is ever good
for the public ; but he that plots to be the only
figure amongst cyphers, is the decay of a whole
age. Honour hath three things in it ; the
vantage ground to do good ; the approach to
kings and principal persons ; and the raising
of a man'& own fortunes. He that hath the
best of these intentions, when he aspire th, is
an honest man ; and that prince, that can dis-
cern of these intentions in another that aspir-
eth, is a wise prince. Generally let princes
and states choose such ministers as are more
sensible of duty than of rising, and such as
lt)ve business rather upon conscience than upon
bravery ; and let them discern a busy nature
from a willing mind.

OF MASaUES AND TRIUMPHS.

These things are but toys to come amongst
such serious observations ; but yet, since princes
will have such things, it is better they should be
graced with elegancy, than daubed wnth cost,.
Dancing to song is a thing of great state and

179

pleasure. I understand it that the song be in
quire, placed aloft, and accompained with
some broken music ; and the ditty fitted to the
device. Acting in song, especially in dialogues,
hath an extreme good grace ; I say acting, nat
dancing : (for that is a mean and vulgar thing;)
and the voices of the dialogue would be strong
and manly, (a base, and tenor; no treble,)
and the ditty high and tragical ; not nice or
dainty. Several quires placed one over against
another, and taking the voice by catches an-
them-wise, give great pleasure. Turning
dances into figure is a childish curiosity ; and
generally let it be noted, that those things
which I here set down are such as do naturally
take the sense, and not respect petty wonder-
ments. It is true, the alterations of scenes,
so it be quietly and without noise, are things
of great beauty and pleasure ; for they feed and
relieve the eye before it be full of the same
object. Let the scenes abound with light,
especially couloured and varied ; and let tbx?
masquers, or any other that are to come down
from the scene, have some motions upon the
scene itself before their coming down ; for it
draws the eye strangely, and makes it witii
R 2

180

great pleasure to desire to see that it cannot
perftctly discrrn. Let the songs be loud and
cheerful, and not chirpings or pulings : let
the music likewise be sharp and loud, and
well placed. The colours that shew best by
candlelight are white, carnation, and a kind of
sea water green ; and ouches, or spangs, as
they are of no great cost, so they are of most
glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost and
not discerned. Let the suits of the masquers
be graceful, and such as become the person-
when the vizards are off; not after examples
of known attires ; turks, soldiers, mariners, and
the like. Let anti-masques not be long ; they
have been commonly of fools, satyrs, baboons,
wild men, antics, beasts, spirits, witches, aethi-
opes, pygmies, turquets, nymphs, rustics, cu=
pids, statues moving, and the like. As for an-
gels, it is not comical enough to put them in an-
ti-masques ; and any thing that is hideous, as
devils, giants, is, on the other side, as unfit ; but
chiefly, let the music of them be recreative, and
with some strange changes. Some sweet
odours suddenly coming forth, without any
drops falling, are in such a company, as there
is steam and heat, things of great pleasure and

181

refreshment. Double masques^ one of men, an-
other of ladies, addeth st^jte and variet}- ; but all
is nothing except the room be kept clear and
neat.

For justs,, and tourne^^s, and barriers, the
glories; of them are chiefly in the chariots,
wherein the challengers make their entry ; es-
pecially if they be drawn with strange beasts :
as lions, bears, camels, and the like ; or in the
devices of their entrance, or in bravery of their
liveries, or in the goodly furniture of their
horses and armour. But enough of these toys.

OF NATURE IN MEN.

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome^,
seldom extinguished. Force maketh nature
more violent in the return ; doctrine and dis-
course maketh nature less importune ; but cus-
tom only doth alter and subdue nature. He
that seeketh victory over his nature, let him
not set himself too great nor too small tasks ;
for the first will make him dejected by often
failing, and the second will make him a small
proceeder, though by often prevailing ; and at

182

the first, let him practise with help?, as swim-
mers do with bladders or rushes ; but after a
time, let him practise with disadvantages, as
dancers do with thick shoes ; for it breeds
great perfection if the practice be harder than
the use. Where nature is mighty, and there-
fore the victory hard, the degrees had need be,
first to stay and arrest-nature in time ; lik-e to
him that would say over the four and tvi^enty
letters when he was angry ; then to go less in
quantity ; as if one should in forbearing wine,
come from drinking healths to a draught at. a
meal ; and lastly, to discontinue altogether :
but if a man have the fortitude and resolution
to enfranchise himself at once, that is the best ;,

*' Optimus ille animi vindex, Isedantia pectus.
Zincula qui rupit, dedoluitque semel "

Neither is the ancient rule amiss, to bend na-
ture as a wand to a contrary extreme, where-
by to set it right;.understanding it where the con-
trary extreme is no vice. Let not a man force
a habit upon himst'If with a perpetual contin-
uance, but with some intermission ; for both
the pause reinforceth the new onset : and, if a
man that is not perfect be ever in practice, he

183

shall as well practice his errors as his abilities,-
and induce one habit of both ; and there ly no
means to help this but by seasonable inter-
mission : but let not a man trust his victory
over his nature too far ; for nature will lie
buried a great time, and yet revive upon the
occasion of temptation ; like as it was with
iEsop's damsel, turned from a cat to a woman_,
who sat very demurely at the board's end till
a mouse ran before her : therefore let a man
either avoid the occasion altogether, or put
himself often to it, that he may be little moved
with it. A man's nature is best perceived in
privateness ; for there is no affectation in pas-
sion ; for that putteth a man out of his pre-
cepts, and in a new case or experiment, for
there custom leaveth him. They are happy
men whose natures sort with their vocations ;
otherwise they may say, ^^ multum incola fuit
^' anima mea," when they converse in those
things they do not affect. In studies, whatso-
ever a man commandeth upon himself, let him
set hours for it ; but whatsoever is agreeable
to his nature, let him take no care for any set
times ; for his thoughts will fly to it of them-
selves, so as the spaces of other business or

184

studies will suffice. A man's nature runs ei-
ther to herbs or weeds ; therefore let him
reasonably water the one, and destroy the
ether.

OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION. ,

Men's thoughts are much according to their
inclination ; tlieir discourse and speeches ac-
cording to their learning and infused opinions ;
but their deeds are after as they have been ac-
customed : and therefore, as Machiavel well
noteth, (though in an ill favoured instance,)
there is no trusting to the force of nature, nor
to the braver}^ of words, except it be corrobo-
rate by custom. His instance is,lhat for the
atchieving of a desperate conspiracy a man
should not rest upon the- fierceness of any
man's nature, or his resolute undertakings ;
but take such an one as hath had his hands
formerly in blood : but Machiavel knew not
af a friar Clement, nor a Ravillac, nor a
Jaureguy, nor a Baltazar Gerard : yet his rule
holdeth still, that nature, nor the engagement
of words^ are not so forcible as custom. Only

IS5

superstition is now so well advanced, that men
of the first blood are as firm as butchers by
occupation ; and votary resolution is made
equipollent to custom, even in matter of blood.
In other things the predominancy of custom is
every where visible, insomuch as a man would
wonder to hear men profe?s, protest, engage,
give great words, and then do just as they
have done before, as if they were dead images
and engines moved only by the wheels of
eustom. We see also the reign or tyranny of
custom what it is. The Indians, (I mean the
sect of their wise men,) lay themselves quietly
upon a stack of wood, and so sacrifice them-
selves by fire-: nay, the wives strive to be
burned with the corpse of their husbands.
The lads of Sparta of ancient time were wont
to be scourged upon the altar of Diana, with-
out so much as squeeking, I remember, in
the beginning of queen Elizabeth's time of
England, an Irish rebel condemned, put up a
petition to the deputy t'-at he might be hanged
in a vvyth, and not in an haltar, because it
had been so used with former rebels. There
be monks in Russia, for penance, that will sit a
whole night in a vessel of water till they be

186

engaged with liard ice. Many examples may
be put of the force of custom, botli upon nriiiid
and body : therefore, since custom is the prin-
cipal magistrate of man's life, let men by all
means endeavour to obtain good customs. Cer-
tainly, custom is most perfect when it begin -
jfieth in young years : this we call education,
which is, in effect, but an early custom. So
we see in languages the tongue is more pliant
to all expressions and sounds, the joints are
more supple to all feats of activity and motions
in youth, and afterwards ; for it is true, the
late learners cannot so well take the ply, ex-
cept it be in some minds that have not suffered
themselves to fix^ but have kept themselves
open and prepared to receive continual amend-
ment, which is exceeding rare : but if the
force of custom, simple and seperate, be great,
the force of custom, copulate and conjoined
and collegiate, is far greater; for their exam-
ple teacheth, company comforteth, emulation
quickeneth, glory raiseth ; so as in such places
the force of custom is in its exaltation. Cer-
tainly, the great multiplication of virtues upon
human nature resteth upon societies well or-
dained and disciplined ; for commonwealths

187

and good governments do nourish virtue growii^
but do not much mend the seeds : but the mi-
sery is, that the most effectual means are now
appHed to the ends least to be desired.

OF FORTUNEo

It cannot be denied but outward accidents
conduce much to fortune ; favour, opportunity,
death of others, occasion fitting virtue; but
chiefly, the mould of a man's fortune is in his
own hand.? ; " Faber quisque fortunte suli?,"
saith the poet ; and the most frequent of exter-
nal causes is, that the folly of one man is the
fortune of another ; for no man prospers so
suddenly as by otlers errors ; " serpens nisi ser-
*^ pentem comederit non sit draco," Overt
and apparent virtues bring forth praise ; but
there be secret and hidden virtues that bring
forth fortune ; certain deliveries of a man's
self which have no name. The Spanish name,
'^ disemboltura," parti}' expressetii them, when
there be not stands nor restiveness in a man's
nature, but that the wheels of his mind keep
way with the wheels of his fortune ; for so

188

LIvy (after he had described Cato Major in
these word?, ^^ in illo viro, tantum robur cor-
'^poris et aniini fuit, ut quocunque loco natus
'^ esset, fortunam sibi facturus videretur,")
falleth upon that that he had, *^ versatile in-
*'genium :" therefore if a man look sharply
and attentively, he shall see fortune ; for
though she be blind, yet she is not invisible.
The way of fortmie is like the milky way in
the sky ; which is a meeting or knot of a
number of small stars, not seen asunder, but
giving light together: so are there a num-
ber of little and scarce discerned virtues, or
rather faculties and customs, that make
men fortunate : the Italians note some of
them such as a man would little think.
"When they speak of one that cannot do amiss
they will throw in into his other conditions,
that he hath '^ Poco di matto ;" and, certainly,
there be not two more fortunate properties,
than to have a little of the fool, and not too
much of the honest : therefore extreme lovers
of their country, or masters were never for-
tunate : neither can they be ; for when a man
placeth his thoughts without himself, he goeth
not his own way. An hasty fortune maketh

189

an enterprizer and remover; (the French hath
it better, '^ enterpernant," or " remuant ;") but
the exercised- fortune maketh the able man.
Fortune is to be honoured and respected, and
it be but for lier daughters. Confidence and
Reputation ; for those two felicity breedeth ;
the first within a man's self; the latter, in
others towards him. All wise men, to decline
the envy of their own virtues, use to ascribe
them to Providence and Fortune ; for so they
may the better assume them : and, besides, it
is greatness in a man to be the care of the
higher powers. So Ciesar said to the pilot in
the tempest, " Ciesarem portas, et fortunam
** ejus." So Sylla chose the name of ^^ felix,"
and not of *^ magnus :" and it hath been noted,
that those that ascribe openly too much to
their own wisdom and policy, end unfortunate.
It is written, that Timotheus, the Athenian,
after he had, in the account he gave to the
state of his government, often interlaced this
speech, ^^ And in this fortune had no part,"
never prospered in any thing he undertook
afterwards. Certainly there be whose for-
tunes are like Homer's verses, that have a
slide and easiness more than the verses of other

190

poets ; as Plutarch saith of Timeleon's fortune

in respect of that of Agesilaus, or Epaminon-
das : and that this should be, no doubt it is
xnuch in a man's self.

OF USURY.

Many have made witty invectives againsfr
usur}^ They say, that it is pity the devil
should have God's part, which is the tithe ;
that the usurer is the greatest tabbath-breaker,
because his plough goeth every sunday ; that
the usurer is the drone that Virgil speaketb
of;

^ Ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent j"

that the usurer breaketh the first law that wa^
made for mankind after the fall ; which was,.
^' in sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum ;"
not, '^ in sudore vultis alieni ;-' that usurers
should have orange-tawny bonnets, because
they do judaize ; that it is against nature for
money to beget money, and the like. I say
this only, that usury is a ^^ concessum propter
"duritiem cordis :" for since there must be

191

borrowing and lending, and men are so hard
of heart as they will not lend freely, usury
must be permitted. Some others have made
suspicious and cunning propositions of banks,
discovery of men's estates^, and other inven-
tions ; but few have spoken of usury usefully.
It is good to set before us the incommodities
and commodities of usury, that the good may
be either w^eighed out, or culled out : and
warily to provide, that, while we make forth
to that which is better, we meet not with tha-C
w^hich is worsc,^

The discommodities of usury are, first, that ft
makes fewer merchants ; for were it not for
this lazy trade of usury, money would not lie
still,, but would in great part be employed upoii
merchandizing ; which is the '^ vena porta^'
of wealth in a state : the second, that it makes
poor merchants ; for as a farmer cannot hus-
band his ground so well if he sit at a great
rent, so the merchant cannot drive his trade so
well if he sit at great usury : the third i« inci-
dent to the other two; and that is, the decay
of customs of kings or estates, wlikh ebb or
flow with merchandizing : tho Tourth, that it
bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a
s ^

192

few hands ; for the usurer being at certaintie?^
and others at uncertainties, at the end of the
game most of the money will be in the box ;
and ever a state flourisheth when wealth is
more equally spread : the fifth, that it beats
down the price of laud; for the employment
of money is chiefly either merchandizing, or
purchasing ; and usury waylays both : the-
sixth, that it doth dull and damp all industries^
improvements, and new inventions, wherein
money would be stirring, if it were not for this
slug : the last, that it is the canker and ruin of
many men's estates, which in process of time
breeds a public poverty.

On the other side, the commodities of usury
are first, that howsoever usury in some respect
hindereth merchandizing, yet in some other it
advanceth it ; for it is certain that the greatest
part of trade is driven by young merchants
upon borrowing at interest ; so as if the usurer
either call in, or keep back his money, there
will ensue presently a great stand of trade :
the second is, that, were it not for this easy
borrowing upon interest, men's necessities-
would draw Upon them a most srdden undoing,
m that they woula v»e forced to sell their means^

193

(be it lands or goods,) far under foot, and so^
whereas usury doth but gnaw among them, bad
markets would swallow them quite up. As
for mortgaging, or pawning, it will little mend
the matter ; for either men will not take pains
without use : or if they do, they will look pre-
cisely for the forfeiture. I remember a cruel
monied man in the country, that would say,
** The devil take this usury, it keeps us from,
forfeitures of mortgages and bonds." The
third and last is, that it is a vanity to conceive
that there would be ordinary borrowing with-
out profit ; and it is impossible to conceive
the number of inconveniences that will ensue
if borrowing be crampf^d : therefore to speak
of the abolishing of usury is idle ; all states
have ever had it in one kind or rate or other :
so as that opinion must be sent to Utopia.

To speak now of the reformation and re-^
glement of usury ; how the discommodities of
it may be best avoided, and the commodities
retained. It appears, by the balance of com-
modities aud discommodities of usury, two-
things are to be reconciled ; the one that the
tooth of usury be grinded, that it bite not too
BHich ; the other, that there be left open a-

19 i

means to invite monied men to lend to the
merchants for the continuing and quickening
of trade. This cannot be done, except you in-
troduce two several sorts of usury, a less and a
greater ; for if you reduce usury to one low
rate, it will ease the common borrower, but
the merchant will be to seek for money: and
it is to be noted, that the trade of merchandize
being the most lucrative, may bear usury at a
good rate ; other contracts not so.

To serve both intentions, the way would
be briefly thus : that there be two rates of
usury ; the one free and general for all ; the
other under licence only to certain persons,
and in certain places of merchandizing. First,
therefore, let usury in general be reduced to
Hve in the hundred ; and let that rate be pro-
claimed to be free and current ; and let the
state shut itself out to take any penalty for the
same : this will preserve borrowing from any
general stop or dryness ; this will ease infinite
borrowers in the country ; this will in good
part raise the price of land, because land pur-
chased at sixteen years purchase, will yield six
in the hundred and somewhat more, whereas
this rate of interest yields but five ; this by

195

like reason will encourage and edge industrious
and profitable improvements, because many
will rather venture in that kind, than take five
in the hundred, especiallj having been used to
greater profit. Secondly let there be certain
persons licensed to lend to known merchants
upon u?ury at a high rate ; and let it be with
the cautions following ; let the rate be, even
with the merchant himself, somewhat more
easy than that he used formerly to pay ; for by
that means all borrowers shall have some ease
by this reformation,, be he merchant or who-
soever; let it be no bank,, or common stocky
but every man be master of his own money ;
not that I altogether dislike banks, but they
will hardly be brooked in regard of certain
suspicions. Let the stale be answered some
small matter for the license, and the rest left
to the lender ; for if the abatement be but
small, it will no whit discourage the lender;
for he, for example, that took before ten or
nine in the hundred, will sooner descend to
eight in the hundred, than give over this trade
of usury, and go from certain gains to gains of
hazard. Let these licensed lenders be in num
ber indefinite, but restrained to certain prin

196

clpal cities and towns of merchandizinsj ; for
then they will be hardly able to colour other
men's monies in the country ; so as the license
of nine will not suck away the current rate of
five ; for no man will lend his monies far off,
nor put them into unknown hands.

If it be objected that this doth in a sort au-
thorise usury, which before was in some places
but permissive, the answer is, that it is better
to mitigate usury by declaration, than to suffer
it to rage by connivance.

OF YOUTH AND AGE.

A MAN that is young in years may be old in
hours, if he have lost no time ; but that hap-
peneth rarely. Generally, youth is like the
first cogitations, not so wise as the second ; for
there is a youth in thoughts as well as in ages ;
and yet the invention of young men, is more
lively than that of old ; and imaginations
stream into their minds better, and, as it were,
more divinely. Natures, that have much heat,
and great and violent desires and pertubations,
are not ripe for action till they have pas&ed the

197

meridian of their years : as it was with Julius
Caesar and Septimius Severus : of the latter of
whom it is said, "juventutem egit, erroribus^
" imo furoribus plenam ;" and yet he was the
ablest emperor, almost, of all the list : but re-
posed natures may do well in youth, as it is
seen in Augustus Ciesar, Cosmes, duke of
Florence, Gaston de Fois, and others. On the
other side, heat and vivacity in age is an ex-
cellent composition for business 5 Young men
are fitter to invent than to judge ; fitter for
execution than for counsel ; and fitter for new
projects, than for settled business; for the ex-
perience of age, in tilings that fall within the
compass of it, directeth them ; but, in new
things abuseth them. The errors of yoiuig
men are the ruin of business ; but the errors of
aged men amount but to this, that more
might have been done, or sooner. Young men,
in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace
more than they can hold ; stir more than they
can quiet ; fly to the end, without consideration
of the means and degrees ; pursue some few
principles which they have chanced upon ab-
surdly ; care not to innovate, whicii draws
unknown inconveniences ; use extreme reme-

198

dies at first ; and that, which doubleth ail er-
roi\s, will not acknowledge or retract them^
like an umeady horse, that will neither stop
nor turn. Men of age object too much, con-
sult \oo iong, adventure too little, repent too
S0'.>ij, a:id scidoai drive business home to the
full period ; but content themselves with a
mediocrity of success. Certainly it is good
to compound eaipli)yments of both ; for that
will be good for the present, because the vir-
tues of either age iiiay correct tlie defects of
both ; and good for succesiiion, that joung men
may be learners, while men in age are actors ;
and, lastly,good for external accidents, because
authority folio weth old men, and favour and
popularity 3^oung : but for the moral part, per-
haps, youth will have the preeminence, as age
hath for the politic. A certain rabbm upon
the text, " Your young men shall see visions,
" and your old men shall dream dreams," in-
ferreth, that young men are admitted nearer
to God than old, because vision is a clearer re-
velation than a dream : and, certainly,the more
a man drinketh of the world, the more it in-
toxicateth ; and age doth profit rather in the
powers of understanding, than in the virtues

199

of the will and affections. There be some
have an over-early ripeness in their yearsj
which fadeth betimes : these are, first, such as
have brittle wits, the edge whereof is soon
turned ; such as was Herrnogenes the rheto-
rician, whose books are exceeding subtile, who
afterwards waxed stupid : a second sort is of
those that have some natural dispositions, which
have better grace in youth than in age ; such
as is a fluent and luxuriant speech ; which be-
comes youth well, but not age : so Tully saith
of Hortensius, ^^ idem manebat, neque idem
*^ decebat :" the third is of such as take too
high a strain at the first ; and are magnani-
mous, more than tract of years can uphold ; as
was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith iq
effect, ^< ultim.a primis cedebant."

OF BEAUTY.

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set :; and
surel}^ virtue is best in a body that is comely^
though not of delicate features ; and that hath
rather dignity of presence, than btauty of
aspect ; neither is it almost seen, that very

T

200

beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue ;
^s if nature were rather busy not to err, than
in labour to produce excellency ; and there-
fore they prove accomplished, but not of great
spirit ; and study rather behaviour than virtue.
But this holds not always : for Augustus Caesar
Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Belle of France,
Edward the Fourth of England, Alcibiades of
Athens, Ismael the sophy of Persia, were all
high and great spirits ; and yet the most beau-
tiful men of their times. In beauty, that of
favour is more than that of colour ; and that
of decent and gracious motion more than that
of favour. That is the best part of beauty
which a picture cannot express : no, nor the
first sight of the life. There is no excellent
beauty that hath not some strangeness in the
proportion. A man cannot .tell whether Apel-
les, or Albert Durer, w^ere the more trifler ;
whereof the one would make a personage by
geometrical proportions : the other, by taking
the best parts out of divers faces, to make one
excellent. Such personages, I think, would
please no body but the painter that made
them : not but I think a painter may make a
better face than ever was ; but he must do it

201

by a kind of felicity, (as a musician that maketh
an excellent air in music,) and not by rule. A
man shall see faces, that, if you examine them
part by part, you shall find never a good ; and
yet altogether do well. If it be true, that trie
principal part of beauty is in decent motion^
certainly it is no marvel, though persons in
y^ars seem many times more amiable ; ^' pul-
^^ chrorum autumnus puleher ;" for no youth
can be comely but by pardon, and considering
the youth as to make up the comeliness. Beau-
ty is as summer-fruits, wLich are easy to cor-
rupt, and cannot last ; and, for the most part,
it makes a dissolute youth, and an age a little
out of countenance ; but yet certainly again, if
it light well, it maketh virtues shine, and vice^
blush.

OF DEFORMITY".

Deformed persons are commonly even with
nature ; for as nature hath done ill by them>
so do they by nature, being for the most part,
(as the scripture saith,) " void of natural affec-
" tion ;'* and so they have their revenge at

202

aatiire. Certainly there is a consent between
the body and the mind, and where nature
erreth in the one, she ventureth in the other ;
^^ ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero :" but
because there is in man an election touching
the frame of his mind, and a necessity in the
frame of his body, the stars of natural incli-
nation are sometimes obscured by the sun of
discipline and virtue ; therefore it is good to
consider of deformity, not as a sign which is
more deceivable, but as a cause w^hich seldom
faileth of the effect. Whosoever hath any
thing fixed in his person that doth iuduce con-
tempt, hath also a perpetual spur in himself
to rescue and deliver himself from scorn ; there-
fore all deformed persons are extreme bold ;
first, as in their owm defence, as being expos-
ed to scorn ; but in process of time by a gen-
eral habit. Also it stirreth in them industry,
and especially of this kind, to watch and ob-
jgerve the w^eakness of others, that they may
have somewhat to repay. Again in their su-
periors, it quencheth jealousy towards them,
as persons that they think they may at plea-
sure despise ; and it layeth their competitors
and emulators asleep, as never believing they-

should be in possibility of advancement till
they see them in possession : so that upon the
matter, in a great wit^ deformity is an advan-
tage to rising. Kings in ancient times, (and
at this present in some countries,) were wont
to put great trust in eunuchs, because they
that are envious towards all are more obnoxious
and officious towards one : but yet their trust
towards them hath rather been as to good spi-
als, and good whisperers, than good magis-
trates and officers : and much like is the reason
of deformed persons. Still the ground is, they
will, if they be of spirit, seek to free themselves
from scorn ; which must be either by virtue or
malice : and, therefore, let it not be marvelle(J
if sometimes they prove excellent persons ; as
was Agesilaus, Zanger the son of Solyman.
iEsop, Gasca, president of Peru ; and Socrates
may go likewise amongst them^ with other.s,

T 2

204

OF BUILDING.

Houses are built to live in, and not to look
on ; therefore let use be preferred before uni-
formity, except where both may be had.
Leave the goodly fabrics of houses, for beauty
only, to the enchanted palaces of the poets,
who build them with small cost. He, that
builds a fair house upon an ill seat, commit-
teth himself to prison : neither do I reckon it
an ill seat only, where the air is unwholesome,
but likewise where the air is unequal ; as you
shall see many fine seats set upon a knap of
ground, environed with higher hills round a-
bout it, whereby the heat of the sun is pent
in, and the wind gathereth as in troughs ; so
as you shall have, and that suddenly, as great
diversity of heat and cold as if you dwelt in
several places. Neither is it ill air only that
maketh an ill seat ; but ill ways, ill markets ^
and, if you will consult wnth Momus, ill neigh-
bours. I speak not of many more ; want of
water; want of wood, shade, and shelter; want
©f frviitfulcess, and mixture of grounds of se-

205

veral natures ; want of prospect ; want oflev-
el grounds ; want of places at some near dis-
tance for sports of hunting, hawking, and races;
too near the sea, too remote ; having the com-
modity of navigable rivers^ or the discommodi-
ty of their overflowing ; too far off from great
cities, which may hinder business ; or too near
them, which lurcheth alt provisions, and mak-
eth every thing dear; where a man hatha great
living laid together, and where he is scanted;
all which, as it is impossible perhaps to find
together, so it is good to know them, and
thmk of them, that a man may take as many
as he can ; and if he have several dwellings,
that he sort them so, that what he wanteth in
the one, he may find in the other. LucuUus
answered Pompey well, who, when he saw his
stately galleries and rooms so large and light-
some in one of his houses, said, ^' Surely an
'* excellent place for summer, but how do you
" in winter ?" LucuUus answered, ^' Why do
<*you not think me as wise as some fools are,
<f that ever change their abode towards the
*' winter ?"

To pass from the seat to the house itself,
we will do as Cicero doth in the orator^s art.

206

who writes books De Oratore, and a book He
entitles Orator ; whereof the former delivers
the precepts of the art, and the latter the per-
fection. We will therefore describe a princely
palace, making a brief model thereof : for it is
strange to see, now in Europe, such huge
buildings as the Vatican and Escurial and some
others be, and yet scarce a very fair room in
them.

First, therefore, I say you cannot have a
perfect palace, except you have two several
sides ; a side for the banquet, as is spoken of
in the book of Esther, and a side for the
household ; the one for feasts and triumphs,
and the other fordvvelling.. I understand both
these sides to be not only returns, but parts of
the front ; and to be uniform without, though*
severally partitioned within ; and to be on both
sides of a grea,t and stately tower in the midst
of the front, that, as it were, joineth them
together on either hand. I would have, on the
side of the banquet in front, one only goodly
Toom above stairs, of some forty foot high ; and
under it a room for a dressing or preparing
place, at times of triumphs. On the other
side, which is the househgld side, I wish it d^->

207

vided at the first into a hall and a chapel, (with
a partition between,) both of good itate and
bigness ; and those not to go all the lengthy
but to have at the farther end a winter and a
summer parlour, both fair ; and under these
rooms a fair and large cellar sunk under
ground ; and likewise some priv)' kitchens, with
butteries and pantries, and the like. As for the
tower, I would have it two stories, of eigh-
teen foot high apiece above the two wnngs ;
and goodly leads upon the top, railed with
statues interposed ; and the same tow^er to be
divided into rooms as shall be thought fit'
The stairs likev^'ise to the upper rooms, let them
be upon a fair open newel, and finely railed in
with images of wood cast into a brass colour ;
and a very fair landing place at the top. But
this to be, if you do not point any of the lower
rooms for a dining place of servants ; for, oth-
erwise, you shall have the servants dinner after
your own ; for the steam of it will come up as
in a tunnel ; and so much for the front : only.
I understand the height of the first stairs to be
sixteen foot, which is the height of the lower
room.

Beyond this front is there to be a fair court^

208

but three sides of it of a far lower buildlhg
than the front ; and in all the four corners o^
that court fair stair-cases, cast into turrets en
the outside, and not within the row of build-
ings themselves : but those towers are not to
be of the height of the front, but rather pro-
portionable to the lower building. Let the
court not be paved, for that striketh up a great
beat in summer, and much cold in winter ■; but
only some side allejs with a cross, and the
quarters to graze, being kept shorn, but not
too near shorn. The row of return on th6
banquet side, let it be all stately galleries ; in
which galleries let there be three, or five fine
cupolas in the length of it, placed at equal
distance, and fine coloured windows of several
Work : on the household side, chambers of
presence and ordinary entertainments, with
some bed-chambers ; and let all three sides be
a double house, without thorough lights on
the sides, that you may have rooms from the
sun, both for forenoon and afternoon. Cast
it also, that you may have rooms both for sum^
nier and winter ; shady for summer, and warm
for winter. You shall have sonietimes fair
ho^o^es so full of glass that one cannot tell

^09

where to become to be out of the sun or cold.
For embovved windows, I hold them of good
use ; (in cities, indeed, upright do better, in re-
spect of the uniformity towards the street ;) for
they be pretty retiring places for conference ;
and, besides, they keep both the wind and sun
off; for that which would strike almost through
the room, doth scarce pass the window : but
let them be but few.;, four in the court, on the
sides only.

Beyond this court, let there be an inward
court of the same square and height, which is
to be environed with the garden on all sides ;
and, in the inside, cloistered on all sides upon
decent and beautiful arches as high as the first
story ; on the under story towards the garden,
let it be turned to a grotto, or place of shade
or estivation ; aud only have opening and win-
dows towards the garden, and be level upon the
floor, no whit sunk under ground, to avoid all
dampi':hness : and itt there be a fountain or some
fair work of statues in the midst of this court,
and to be paved as the otiier court was. These
buildings to be for privy lodgings on b'oth sides,
and the end for privy galleries ; whereof you
mu?t foresee that one of them be for an infir-

210

iiiary,if the prince or any special person should
■be sick, with chambers, bed-chamber, *' an'
*^ tecamera," and <* recamera," joining to it ;
this upon the second story. Upon the ground
story, a fair gallery, open, upon pillars ; and
upon the third story likewise, an open gallery
upon pillars, to take the prospect and freshness
of the garden. At both corners of the farther
^side, by way of return, let there be two deli-
cate or rich cabinets, daintil}' paved, richly
hanged, glazed with crystalline glass, and a
rich cupola in the midst ; and all other ele-
gancy that may be thought upon. In the upper
gallery too, I wish that there may be, if the
place will yield it, some fountains running in
divers places from the wall, with some fine
avoidances. And thus much far the model
of the palace ; save that you must have, be-
fore you come to the front, three courts ; a
green court plain, with a wall about it ; a
second court of the same, but more garnislied
with little turrets, or rather embelliishments
upon the wall ; and a third court, to make a
square with the front, but not to be built, nor
yet enclosed with a naked wall, but enclosed
with terraces leaded aloft, and fairly garnish-ed

211

on the three sides ; and cloistered on the inside
with pillars, and not with arches below. As
for offices, let them stand at a distance, with
some low galleries to pass from them to the
|3alace itself.

OF GARDENSo

God Almighty first planted a garden ; and, in=
deed, it is the purest of human pleasures ; it is
the greatest refrejhment to the spirits of man ;
without which buildings and palaces are but
gi'oss handyworks : and a man shall ever see>
that, when ages grow to civility and elegancy,
men come to build stately, sooner than to
garden finely ; as if gardening were the greater
perfection. I do hold it, in the royal ordering
of gardens, there ought to be gardens for all
the months in the year ; in which, severally,
things of beauty may be then in season. For
December and January, and the latter part
of November, you must take such things a*
are green all winter ; holly ; ivy ; bays ; ju-
niper ; cypress trees ; yew ; pines ; fir-trees ;
rosemary ; lavender ; periwinkle, the white, tb^
U

212

puvpie,and the blue ; germander ; flags; orange
trees ; lemon trees, and myrtles, if they be
stored ; and sweet marjoram warm set. There
iolloweth, for the latter part of January and
February, the mezereon tree, which then blos-
soms ; crocus vernus, both the yellow and the
grey; primroses; anemones; the early tulip;
hyacinthus orientalis ; chamairis ; fritellaria.
For March there come violets, especially the siar
gle blue, which are the earliest; the early daffo-
dil ; the daisy ; the almond tree in blossom ; the
peach tree in blossom ; the cornelian tree in
blossom i sweet-briar. In April follow the
double white violet ; the wall-flower ; the stock-
gilliflower ; the cowslip ; flower-de-luces ; and
lilies of all natures ; rosemary-flowers ; the tu-
lip ; the double peony ; the pale daffodil ; the
French honeysuckle ; the cherry tree in blos-
som ; the damascene and plum trees in blossom ;
the white thorn in leaf; the lilac tree. In
May and June come pinks of all sorts, espe-
cially the blush pink ; roses of all kinds, ex-
cept the musk, which comes later ; honey-
suckles ; strawberries ; bugloss ; columbine ; the
French marygold; flos Africanus; cherry tree in
fruit ; ribes ; figs in fruits ; rasps ; vine flowers ;

213

lavender in flowers : the sweet satyrian^ with
the white flower ; herba muscaria ; iilium con-
TaUiiim ; the apple tree in blossom. In July
come gilliflowers of all varieties ; musk roses ;
the lime tree in blossom ; early pears, and
plums in fruit ; gennitings ; codlins. In August
come plums of all sorts in fruit ; pears ; apricots ;
berberies ; filberds ; muskmelons ; monks-hoods
of all colours. In September come grapes ; ap-
ples ; poppeys of all colours ; peaches ; melo*
cctones ; nectarines ; cornelians ; wardens ;
quinces. In October and the beginning of
November, come services ; medlars ; bullaces;
roses cut or removed to come late ; hollyoaks- ;
and such like. These particulars are for the
climate of London : but my meaning is per-
ceived, that you may have ** ver perpetuum,"'
as the place affords.

And because the breath of flowers is far
sweeter in the air, (where it comes and goes,
like the warWing of music,) than in the hand,
therefore nothing is more fit for that delight,
than to know what be the flowers and plants
that do best perfume the air. Roses, damask
and red, are fast flowers of their smells 5 so
that you may walk by a whole row of then-h,

214

and find nothing of their sweetness ; }ea>,
though it be in a morning's' dew. Bays, Hke-
vvise, yield no smell as they grow, rosemary
little, nor sweet marjoram ; that which, above
all others, yields the sweetest smell in the air,
is the violet ; especially the white double vio-
let, which comes twice a year, about the mid-
dle of April, and about Bartholomew-tide.
Next to that is the musk-rose ; then the straw-
berry leaves dying, with a most excellent cor-
dial smell ; then the fiower of the vines ; it
is a little dust like the dust of a bent, which
grows upon the cluster in the first coming
forth ; then sweet-briar, then wall-flowers,
which are very delightful to be set under a
parlour or lower chamber window ; then
pinks and gilliflowers, especially the matted
pink, and clove gilliflower ; then the flowers
of the lime tree ; then the honey-suckles, so
iliey be somewhat afar off. Of bean-flow-
ers I speak not, because they are field flow-
ers : but those which perfume the air most
delightfully, not passed by as the rest, but
being trodden upon and crushed, are three :
that is, burnet, wild thyme, and water-
mints : therefore you are to. set whole alle^^sof

215

them, to have the pleasure when you walk or
tread.

For gardens, (speaking of those which are
indeed prince-like, as we have done of build-
ings,) the contents ought not well to be under
thirty acres of ground, and to be divided into
three parts ; a green in the entrance, a heath
or desert in the going forth, and the main
garden in the midst, besides alleys on both
sides ; and I like well, that four acres cf
ground be assigned to the green, six to the
heath, four and four to either side, and twelve
to the main garden. The green- hath two
plea-sures ; the one, because nothing is more
pleasant to the eye than green grass kept
finely shorn ; the other, because it will give
you a fair alley in the midst, by which you
may go in front upon a stately hedge, which is
to inclose the garden : but because the alley
will be long, and, in great heat of the year or
day, you ought not to buy the shade in the
garden by going in the sun through the green ;
therefore you are, of either side the green, to
plant a covert alley, upon carpenter's work,
about twelve foot in height, by which you may
go in shade into the garden. As for the mak-

216'

ing of knots or figures with divers coloured
earths, that they may lie under the windows
of the house on that side which the garden
stands, they be but toys : you may see as good
sights many times in tarts. The garden is
best to be square, encompassed on all the
four sides with a stately arched hedge ; the
arches to be upon pillars of carpenter's work ;
of some ten foot high, and six foot broad ;
and the spaces between of the same dimen-
sions with the breadth of the arch. Over
the arches let their be an entire hedge of
some four foot high, framed also upon car-
p.enter's work ; and upon the upper hedge,
over every arch, a little turnet, with a belly
enough to receive a cage of birds ; and over
every space between the arches some other*
little figure, with broad plates of round co-
loured glass gilt, for the sun to play upon : but
this hedge I intend to be raised upon a bank,,
not steep, but gently slope, of some six foot,
set all with flowers. Also I understand, that
this square of the garden should not be the
whole breadth of the ground, but to leave on
either side ground enough for diversity of side
alleys, unto w-hich the two covert alleys of

217

the green may deliver you ; but there must be
no alleys with hedges at either end of this great
enclosure; not at the hither end, for letting
your prospect upon this fair hedge from the
green ; nor at the farther end, for letting your
prospect from the liedge through the arches
upon the heath.

For the ordering of the ground within the
great hedge, I leave it to variety of device ;
advising, nevertheless, that whatsoever form
you cast it into first, it be not too busy or full
of work ; wherein I, for my part, do not like
images cut out in jupiter or other garden stuffs
they be for children.- Little low hedges, round
like welts, with some pretty pyramids, I like
well ; and in some places fair columns upon-
frames of carpenter's work. I would -also have
the alleys spacious and fair. You may have
closer alleys upon the side grounds, but none
in the main garden. I wish also, in the very
middle, a fair mount, with three ascents and
alleys, enough for four to walk abreast ; which
I would have to be perfect circles, with-
out any bulwarks or embossments; and the
whole mount to be thirty feit high ; and
some fine banqueting house^ with some chim-

213

neys neatly cast, and without too mucli
glass.

For fountains, they are a great beauty and
refreshment ; but pools mar all, and make the
garden unwholesome, and full of flies and frogs*
Fountains I intend to be of two natures ; the
one that sprinkleth or spouteth water : the
other a fair receipt of water of some thirty or
forty feet square, but without fish, or slime, or
mud. For the first, the ornaments of imagesj
gilt or of marble, which are in use, do well :
but the main m^atter is so to convey the water,
as it never stay either in the bowls or in the
cistern : that the water be never by rest dis-
coloured, green or red, or the like, or gather
any mossiness or putrefaction ; besides that, it
is to be cleansed every day by the hand : . also
some steps up to it, and some fine pavement
about it do welL As for the other kind of
fountain, which we may call a bathing pool, it
may admit much curiosity and beauty, where-
with we will not trouble ourselves ; as, that
the bottom be finely paved, and with im.ages •'
the sides likewise ; and withal embelhshed with
coloured gla.-s, and such things of lustre ; en-
compassed also Nvith fine rails of low statues -

219.

but the main point is the same which we
mentioned in the former kind of fountain ;
which is, that the water be in perpetual mo-
tion, fed b}^ a water higher than the pool, and
delivered into it by fair spouts, and then dis-
charged away under ground by some equality
of bores, shat it stay little ; and for fine de-
vices, of arching water without spilling, and
making it rise in several form, (of feathers,
drinking glasses, canopies, and the like,) they
be pretty things to look on, but nothing to
health and sweetness.

For the heath, which was the third part
of our plot, I wish it to be framed as much as
may be to a natural wildness. Trees I would
have none in it, but some thickets made only
of sweetbriar and hone3'suckle, and some mild
vine amongst ; and the ground set with violets^
strawberries, and primroses ; for these are
?weet, and prosper in the shade ; and these are
to be in the heath here and there, not in any
order. I like also little heaps, in the nature of
mole-hills, (such as are in wild heaths,) to be
set, some with wild thyme : some with pinks ;
some with germander, that gives a good flower
to the eye; some with pcriwuikle ; some with

.220

violets 7 some with strawberries ; some wit!^
cowslips ; some with daisies ; some with red
roses ; some with liliiim convaHium ; some with
sweet-williams red ; some with bears-foot, and
the like low flowers, being withal sweet and
sightly : part of which heaps to be with stand-
ards of little bushes pricked upon their top,
and part without ; the standards to be roses,
juniper, holly, berberies, (but here and there,
because of the smell of their blossom,) red cur-
rants, gooseberries, rosemary, bays_y sweetbriar,
and such like : but these standards to be kept
with cutting, that they ^row not out of
course.

For the side grounds, you are to fill them
with variety of alleys private, to give a full
shade ; some of them wheresoever the sun be«
You are to frame some of them likewise foi*
shelter, that when the wind blows sharp, you
may walk as in a gallery : and those alleys
must be likewise hedged at both ends, to keep
out the wind ; and these closer alleys must be
ever finely gravelled, and no grass, because of
going wet. In many of these alleys, likewise,
you are to set fruit trees of all sorts, as well
upon the walls as in ranges ; and this should

221

be generally observed, that the borders where-
in you plant your fruit trees be fair and large
and lowj and not steep ; and set with fine flow,
ers, but thin and sparingly^, lest they deceive the
trees. At the end of both the side grounds I
would have a mount of some pretty height,
leaving the wall of the enclosure breast high
to look abroad into the fields.

For the main garden, I do not deny but
there should be some fair alleys ranged on both
sides with fruit trees, and some pretty tufts of
fruit trees, and arbours with seats, set in some
decent order ; but these to be by no means set
too thick, but to leave the main garden so as it
be not close, but the air open and free. For as
for shade, I would have you rest upon the al-
leys of the side grounds, there to walk, if you
be disposed, in the heat of the year or day ; but
to make account, that the main garden is for
the more temperate parts of the year, and, in
the heat of summer, for the morning and the
evening, or overcast days.

For aviaries, I like them not, except they
be of that largeness as they may be turfed, and
have living plants and bushes set in them ; that
the birds may have more scope and natural

222

laestling, and that no foulness appear on Xbe
floor of the aviary. So I have made a plat-
form of a princely garden, partly by precept,
partly by drawing ; not a model, but some gen-
eral lines of it ; and in this I have spared for
no cost : but it is nothing for great princes,
that, for the most part taking advice with work-
men, with no less cost set their things together ;
and sometimes add statues and such things for
state and magnificence, but nothing to the true
pleasure of a garden.

OF NEGOCIATING,

It is generally better to deal by speech, thah
by letter ; and by the meditation of a third
than by a man's self. Letters are good, when
a man w^ould draw an answer by a letter back
again; or w^hen it may serve for a man's justi-
fications afterwards to produce his own letter;
or where it may be in danger to be interrup-
ted, or heard by pieces. To deal in person
is good when a man's face breedeth regard, as
commonly with inferiors ; or in tender cases,
where a man's eve unon the countenance of

Ilim, with whom he speaketh, may give hirh a
direction how far to go ; and generally where
a man will reserve to himself liberty, either to
disavow or to expound. In choice of instru-
ments, it is better to chouse men of a plainer
sort, that are like to do uat, that is committed
to them, and to report back again faithfully
the success, than those, that are cunning to
contrive, out of other men's business, somewhat
to grace themselves, and will help the matter
in report for satisfaction sake. Use also such
persons as affect the business wherein they are
employed, for that quickeneth much ; and such
as are fit for the matter; as bold men for ex-
postulation, fair-spoken men for persuasion,
crafty men for inquir}^ and observation, froward
and absurd men for business that doth not well
bear out itself. Use also such as have been
lucky, and prevailed before in things wherein
you have employed them ; for that breeds con-
fidence, and they will strive to maintain their
prescription. It is better to sound a person,
witli whom one deals, afar off, than to fall
upon tue point at first; except you mean to
surprise him by some short question. It is
better dealing with men in appetite, than with
w

^4

those that are where they would be. If a
man deal with another upon conditions, the
start of first performance is all; which a man
cannot reasonably demand, except either the
nature of the thing be such which must go
before ; or else a man can persuade the other
party, that he shall still need him in some other
thing ; or else that he be counted the honester
man. All practice is to discover, or to work.
Men discover themselves in trust ; in passion ;
at unawares; and of necessity, when they
would have somewhat done, and cannot find
an apt pretext. If you would W'ork any man,
you must either know his nature and fashions_,
and so lead him ; or his ends, and so persuade
him ; or his weakness and disadvantages, and
so awe him ; or those that have interest in
him, and so govern him. In dealing with
cunning persons, we must ever consider their
ends to interpret their speeches ; and it is good
to say little to them, and that which they least
look for. In all negotiations of difficulty, a
man may not look to sow and reap at once ;
but must prepare busines, and so ripen it by
degrees.

^225

OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS,

Costly followers are not to be liked ; lest
while a man maketh his train longer^ he make
his wings shorter. I reckon to be costly, r.ot
them alone which cl:a;ge the purse, but which
are wearisome and importune in suits. Ordi^
nary followers ought to challenge no higher
conditions than countenance, recommendation,
and protection from wrongs. Factious follow-
ers are worse to be liked, which follow not
upon affection to him, with whom they range
themselves, but upon discontentment conceived
against some other ; whereupon commonly en-
sueth that ill intelligence that we many times
see between great personages. I^ikewise glo-
rious followers, who make themselves as trum-
pets of the commendation of those they follow,
are full of inconvenience ; for they taint busi-
ness through want of secrecy ; and they ex-
port honour from a man, and make him a re-
turn in envy. There is a kind of followers,
likewise, which are dangerous, being indeed
espialv«; ; which inquire the secrets of the house,

226

and bear tales of them to others ; yet &uch
men many times are in great favour ; for
they are officious, and commonly exchange
tales. The following by certain estates of
men, answerable to that which a great man
liimself professeth, (as of soldiers to him that
hath been employed in the wars, and the like,)
hath ever been a thing civil, and well taken
even in monarchies : so it be without too much
pomp or popularity : but the mo^ft honourable
Jkind of following, is to be followed as one
that apprehendeth to advance virtue and de-
sert in all sorts of persons ; and yet where
there is no eminent odds in sufficiency, it is^
better to take with the more passable, than
with the more able ; and, besides, to speak
truth in base times, active men are of more
use than virtuous. It is true, that in govern-
iTient, it is good to use men of one rank equal-
ly ; for to countenance some extraordinarily, is
to make them insolent, and the rest discontent ;
because they ma}^ claim a due : but contra-
riwise in favour, to use men with much differ-
ence and election is good ; for it maketh the
persons preferred more thankful, and the rest-
more officious ^ because all is of favour. It is.

227

good discretion not to make too much of any
man at the first ; because one cannot hold oirt
that proportion. To be governed, (as we call
it,) by one, is not safe ; for it shews softnes?,
and gives a freedom to scandal and disreputa-
tion ; for those that would not censure, or
speak ill of a man immediately, will talk more
boldly of those that are so great with them,
and thereby wound their honour ; yet to be
distracted with many is worse ; for it makes
men to be of the last impression, and full of
change. To take advice of some few friends
is ever honourable ; for lookers on many times
see more than gamesters ; and the vale best
discovereth the hill. There is little friendship
in the world, and least of all between equals
which was wont to be magnified. That that.
is, is between superior and inferior, w^hose for^
tunes may comprehend the one he other,

OF SUITORS.

Many ill matters and projects are undertaken j

and private suits do putrt fy the public gc^od,-

Many good matters are undertaken with Dad

W A

228

minds ; I mean not only corrupt mihds^ bnt^
crafty minds, that intend not performance.
Some embrace suits which never mean to deal
effectually in them ; but if they see there may-
be life in tlie matter by some other mean, they
will be content to win a thank, or take a se-
cond reward, or, at least, to make use in the
mean time of the suitor's hopes. Some take
hold of suits only for an occasion to cross some
other ; or to make an information, whereof,
they could not otherwise have apt pretext,
without care what become of the suit when
that turn is served ; or generally, to make
other men^s business a kind of entertainment
to bring in their own : nay, some undertake
suits with a full purpose to let them fall ; to
the end to gratify the adverse party or com-
petitor. Surely there is in some sort a right
in every suit ; either a right of equity, if it be
a suit of controversy ; or a right of desert, if
it be a suit of petition. If affection lead a man
to favour the wrong side in justice, let him
rather use his countenance to compound the
matter, than to carry it. If affection lead a
man to favour the less worthy in desert, let
feim do it without depraving- or disabling the

229-

better deserver. In suits which a man doth
not well understand, it is good to lefer them
to some friend of trust and judgment, that may
report whether he may deal in them with ho-
nour ; but let him choose well his referendaries,
for else he may be led by the nose.. Suitors
are so distasted with delays and abuses, that
plain dealing in denying to deal in suits at
first, and reporting the success barel}^, and in
challenging no more thanks than one hath
deserved, is grown not only honourable, but
also gracious. In suits of favour, the first
coming ought to take little place ; so far forth
consideration may be had of his trust, that if.
intelligence of the matter could not otherwise
have been had but by him, advantage be not
taken of the note, but the party left to his
other means ; and in some sort recompensed
for his discovery. To be ignorant of the value
of a suit, is simplicity; as well as to be ig-
norant of the right thereof, is want of con-
science. Secrecy in suits is a great mean of
obtaining ; for voicing them to be in forward-
ness, may discourage some kind of suitors ; but
doth quicken and awake others : but timing of
the suit is the principal ; timing I say, not

250

only in respect of the person, that should grant
it, but in respect of those, which are like to
eross it. Let a man, in the choice of his mean-,
rather choose the fittest mean, than the greatest
mean ; and rather them that deal in certain
things, than those that are general. The re-
paration of a denial is sometimes equal to the
first grant, if a man shew himself neither de-
jected nor discontented. " Iniquum petas, ut
*^ ?equum feras," is a good rule where a man
hath strength of favour ; but, otherwise, a man
were better rise in his suit ; for he that would
have ventured at first to have lost the suitor,
will not, iu the conclusion, lose both the suitor
and his own former favour. Nothing is th'viight
go easy a request to a great person, as his let-
ter ; and yet, if it be not in a good cause, it
is so much out of his reputation. There are no
worse instruments than these general contriv-
ers of suits ; for they are but a kind of poison
and infection to public proceedings.

231

OF STUDIES.

Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and
for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in
privateness and retiring ; for ornament, is in
discourse ; and for ability, is in the judgment
and disposition of business : for expert men can
execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one
by one : but the general counsels, and the plots
and marshalling of affairs come best from those
that are learned. To spend too much time in
studies, is sloth ; to use them too much for or-
ament, is affectation : to make judgment
wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scho=
lar : they perfect nature, and are perfected by
experience : for natural abilities are like na-
tural plants, that need pruning by study; and
studies themselves do give forth directions too
much at large, except they be bounded in by
experience. Crafty men contemn studies, sim-
ple men admire them, and wise men use them ;
for they teach not their own use ; but that is
a wisdom without them, and above them, won
by observation. Read not to contradict and

23-2

confute, nor to believe and take for granted;^
nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh
and consider. Some books are to be tasted,

others to be swallowed, and some few to be
chewed aiid digested : that is, some books are
to be read only in parts ; others to be read,
but not curiouslj^ ; and some few to be read
wholly, and with diligence and attention.
Some books also may be read by dej)uty, and
extracts made of them by others; but that
would be only in the less important arguments,,
and the meaner sort of books ; else distilled
books are, like common distilled waters, flashy
things. Reading maketh a full man ; confer-
ence a ready man ; and writing an exact man ;
and, therefore, if a man write a little, he had
need have a great memory : if he confer little,
need have a present wit : and if he read little,
he had need have much cunning, to seem to
know that he doth not. Histories make men
wise ; poets wilt}' ; the mathematic subtile ;
natural philosophy deep ; moral, grave; logic
and rhetoric, able to contend ; '^ Abeunt studia
ill mores ;" nay, there is no stand or injpedi-
ment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit
studies ; like as diseases of the body may havQ

appropriate exercises ; bowling is good for the
stone and reigns ; shooting for the lungs and
breast ; gentle walking for the stomach ; rid-
ing for the head, and the like ; so if a man's
wit be wandering, let him study the mathe-
matics ; for in demonstrations, if his wit be
called away never so little, he must begin
again ; if his wit be not apt to distinguish or
find differences, let him study the schoolmen ;
for they are " Cymini sectores ;" if he be not
apt to beat over matters, and to call upon one
thing to prove and illustrate another : let him
study the lawyer's cases : so every defect of the
mind may have a special receipt.

OF FACTION.

Many have an opinion not wise, that for a
prince to govern his estate, or for a great per-
son to govern his proceedings, according to the
respect to factions, is a principal part of policy ;
whereas, contrariwise, the chiefest wisdom is,
either in ord^rin^ those things which are gen-
eral, and wherein men of several factions dd

^34

nevertheless agree, or in dealing with corres-
pondence to particular persons, one by one ;
but I say not, that the consideration of factions
is to be neglected. Mean men, in their rising,
must adhere ; but great men, that have strength
in theniselv^es, were better to maintain them-
selves indifferent and neutral : yet even in
beginners, to adhere so moderately, as he be a
man of the one faction, which is most passable
with the other, commonly giveth best way.
The lower and weaker faction is the firmer in
conjunction; and it is often seen, that a few
that are stiff, do tire out a greater number that
are more moderate, \yhen one of the fac-
tions is extinguished, the remaining subdivide
eth; as the faction between Lucullus and the
rest of the nobles of the senate, (which they
called " optimates,"; held out a while against
the faction of Pompey and Ct^sar ; but when
the senate's authority was pulled down, Cctisar
and Pompey soon after brake. The faction or
party of Antonius and Octavianus Giesar, a-
gainst Brutus and Cassius, held out likewise
for a time ; but when Brutus and Cassms were
overthrown, then soon aff r Antonius and
Octavianus brake and subdivided. These ex-

o.r.

OD

imples are of wars, but the same lioldeth in
private factions : and, therefore, those that are
seconds in factions, do many times, when the
faction subdivideth, prove principals ; but many
times also they prove cyphers and cashiered ;
for many a man's strength is in oppo^ition ;
and when that faileth, he groweth out of use.
It is commonly seen, that men once placed,
take in with the contrary faction to that by
which they enter; thinking, belike, that they
have their first sure, and now are ready for
a new purchase. The traitor in faction lightly
goeth away with it, for when matters have
stuck long in balancing, the vvinning of some
one man casteth them, and he gettcth all the
thanks. The even carriage between two fac-
tions proceedeth not always of moderation,
but of a trueness to a man^s self, with end to
make use of both. Certainly, in Italy, they hold
it a little suspect in popes, when they have often
in their mouth " Padre commune ;" and take
it to be a sign of one that meaneth to refer all
to the greatness of his own house. Kings had
need beware how they side themselves, and
make themselves as of a faction or party ; for
leagues within the state are ever pernicious tr

236

uionarcliics ; for they raise an obligation par-
amount to obligation of sovereignty, and make
the king " tanquam unus ex nobis ;" as was
to be seen in the league of France. When
factions are carried too high and too violently,
it is a sign of weakness in princes, and much
to the prejudice both of their authority ana
business. The motions of factions under kings,
ought to be like the motions, (as the astrono-
mers speak,) of the inferior orbs which may
have their proper motions, but yet still are qui-
etly carried by the higher motion of " primiim
mobile.'*

OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS.

He that is only real, had need have exceeding
great parts of virtue ; as the stone had need to
be rich that is set without foil : but if a man
mark it well, it is in praise and commendation
of men, as it is in gettings and gains ; for the
proverb is true, " That light gains make heavy
<^ purses ;" for light gains come thick, whereas
great come but now and then : so it is true,
tha^ small matters win great comm.endatioji.

237

because they are continually in use and m
note ; whereas the occasion of any great vir-
tue Cometh but on festivals : therefore it dolh
much add to a man's reputation, and is, (as
queen Isabella said,) like perpetual letters com-
mendatory, to have good forms : to attain
them, it almost sufficeth not to despise them ;
for so shall a man observe them in others ; and
let him trust liimself with the rest : for if he la-
bour too much to express them, he shall lose
their grace ; which is to be natural and unaf-
fected. Some men's behaviour is like a verse,
wherein every syllable is measured ; how can
a man comprehend great matters, that break-
eth his mind too much to small observations ?
Not to use ceremonies at all, is to teach others
not to use them again ; and so diminisheth res-
pect to himself ; especially they are not to be
omitted to strangers and formal natures : but
the dwelling upon them, and exalting them
above the moon, is not only tedious, but doth
diminish the faith and credit of him that speaks;
and, ycertainU^, there is a kind of conveying of
effectual and imprinting passages amongst com-
pliments, which is of singular use if a man
can hit upon it. Amongst a man's peers, a

23 S

aiian shall be sure of familiarity ; and there-
fore it is good a httle to keep state : amongst
a man's inferiors, one shall be sure of rever-
ence ; and therefore it is good a little to be
familiar. He that is too much in any thing,
so that he givelh another occasion of society,
maketh himself cheap. To apply oneself to
others, is good ; so it be with demonstration,
that a man doth it upon regard, and not upon
facility. It is a good precept, generally in
seconding another, yet to add somewhat of
one's own : as if you will grant his opinion,
let it be with some distinction : if vou will
follow his motion, let it be with condition ; if
you allow his counsel,!et it be with alledging far-
ther reason. Men had need beware how" they
be too perfect in compliments ; for be they
never so sufficient otherwise, their enviers
-will be sure to give them that attribute, ta
the disadvantage of their greater virtues. It
is loss also in business to be too full of respects,
or to be too curious in observing times and
opportunities. Solomon saith, ^^ He that con-
*^' sidereth the wind shall not sow, and he that
^' looketh to the clouds shall not reap." A
wise man vs-ill aiake more opportunities than h^

239

finds. Men's behaviour should be Uke their
apparel ; not too strait or point device, but
free for exercise or motion.

OF PRAISE.

Praise is the reflection of virtue ; but it is as
the glass or body which giveth the reflection :
if it be from the common people, it is common-
ly false and nought, and rather foUoweth vain
persons, than virtuous ; for the common peo-
ple understand not many excellent virtues :
the lowest virtues draw praise from them, the
middle virtues work in them astonishment or
admiration ; but of the highest virtues they
have no sense or perceiving at all; but shews,
and " species virtutibus similes,'^' serve best
with them. Certainly, fame is like a river,
that beareth up things light and swollen, and
drowns things weighty and solid ; bat if per-
sons of quality and judgment concur, then it is,
(as the scripture saith,) *^ Ncmen bonum instar
" unguenti fragrantis ;" it filleth all round
about, and will not easily away ; for the
odours of ointments are more durable than
X 2

240

those of flowers. There be so many fala^
points of praise, that a man may justly hold it
in suspect. Some praises proceed merely of
flattery ; and if he be an ordinary flatterer,
he will have certain common attributes, which
may serve every man ; if he be a cunning flat-
terer, he will follow the arch-flatterer, which is
a man's self, and wherein a man thinketh best
of himself, therein the flatterer will uphold
him most : but if he be an impudent flatterer,
look wherein a man is conscious to himself
that he is most defective, and is most out of
countenance in himself, that will the flatterer
entitle him to perforce, " Spreta consci entia.'*
Some praises come of good wishes and res-
pects, which is a form due in civility to kings
and great persons, " laudando praecipere ;"
when by telling men what they are, they rep-
resent to them w'hat they should be : some
men are praised maliciously to their hurt,
thereby to stir envy and jealousy towards them ;
^< pessimum genus in^imicorum laudantium ;"
insomuch as it was a proverb amongst the
Grecians that, ^' He that was praised to hi?
*^ hurt, should have a push rise upon his nose;'*
as "vve say, that a blister will rise upon one's

241

tongue that tells a lie; certainly, moderate
praise, used with opportunity, and not vulgar,
is that which doth the good. Solomon saith,
«' He that praiseth his friend aloud rising early,
*^ it shall be to him no better than a curse.*'
Too much magnifying of man or matter doth
irritate contradiction, and procure envy and
scorn. To praise a man's self cannot be de-
cent, except it be in rare cases; but to praise a
man's office or profession, he may do it with
good grace, and with a kind of magnanimity.
The cardinals of Rome, which are theologues
and friars and schoolmen, have a phrase of
notable contempt and scorn towards civil busi-
ness ; for they call all temporal business of
wars, embassages, judicature, and other em-
ployments, sherrerie, which is under sheriffries,
as if they were but matters for under-sheriffs
and catchpoles ; though many times those
under-sheriffries do more good than their high
speculations. St. Paul, when he boasts of him-
self, doth oft interlace, " I speak like a fool ;"
but speaking of hi.s calling, he saith, *^ magni-
ficabo apostolatum meum."

242

OF VAIN GLORY.

It was prettil\^ devised ofiEsop; tlie fiy sat
upon the axle-tree of the chariot wheel, and
saidj '^ What a dust do I raise !" So are there
some vain persons, that, whatsoever goeth
alone or moveth upon greater means, if thej
have never so little hand in it, they think it is
they that carry it. They that are glorious
must needs be factious ; for all bravery stands
upon comparisons. They must needs be vio-
lent to make good their own vaunt.s : neither
can they be secret, and therefore not effectual ;
but according to the French proverb, *' beau-
" coup de bruit, peu de fruit ;" *^ much bruit,
^^ little fruit.'* Yet, certainly there is use of
this quality in civil affairs : where there is an
opinion and fame to be created, either of vir-
tue OF greatness, these men are good trumpet-
ers. Again, as Titus Livius noteth in the case,
of Antiochus and tlie rEtolians, there are some-
times great effects of cross lies ; as if a man
that n:fgociates between two princes, to draw
them to join in a war against the third^ doth

24S

extol the forces of either of them above mea-
sure, the one to the other ; and sometime?, lie
that deals between man and man raiseth his
own credit with both, by pretending greater
interest than he hath in either : and in these,
and the Hke kinds, it often falls out, that some-
what is produced of nothing ; for lies are suffix
cient to breed opinion, and opinion brings on
substance. In military commanders and sol-
diers vain glory is an essential point ; for as
iron sharpens iron, so by glory one courage
fharpeneth another. In cases of great enter-
prize upon charge and adventure, a composi-
tbn of glorious natures doth put life into busi-
ness ; and those, that are of solid and sober
natures, have more of the ballast than of the sail.
In fame of learning, the flight will be slow
without some feathers of ostentation ; " Qui
*'* de contemnenda gloria libros scribunt, no =
-<■ men suum inscribunt." Socrates, Aristotle,
Galen, wem men full of ostentation : certainly
vain glory helpeth to perpetuate a man's mem-
ory ; and virtue was never so beholden to hu-
man nature, as it received its due at the second
hand. Neither had the fame of Cicero, Seneca,
Piinius Secundus borne her age so well if i*

244

had not been joined with some vanity in theurt
selves ; like unto varnish, that makes ceilings
not only shine, but last. But all this \vhilej
when 1 speak of vain glory, I mean not of that
property that Tacitus doth attribute to Muci-
anus ■; *^ Omnium, quce dixerat feccratque, ar-
" te quadam ostentator :" for that proceeds
net of vanity, but of natural magnanimity and
discretion ; and, in some persons, is not only
comely, but gracious : for excusations, ces-
sion;, modesty itself well governed are but
arts of ostentation ; and amongst those arts
there is none better than that which Plinius Se-
cundus speaketh of; which is to be liberal of
praise and commendation to others, in that
wherein a man's self hath any perfection : for
saith c liny very Vv'itti'y, " In commending ano-
^^ ther you do yourself right ;" for he that you
commend is either superior to you in that you
commend, or inferior ; if he be inferior, if he
be to be commended, you much more ; if he be
superior, if he be not to be commended, you
much less glorious. Men are the scorn of wise
men, the admiration of fool^, the idols of par-
asites; and the slave? of their own vaunti.

245

OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION.

The winning of honour is but the revealing of
a man's virtue and worth without disadvan-
tage ; for some in their actions do woo and
affect honour and reputation ; which sort df
men are commonly much talked of, but in-
wardly little admired : and some, contrariwise,
darken their virtue in the shew of it ; so as
they be undervalued in opinion. If a man
perform that which hath not been attempted
before, or attempted and given over, or hath
been atchieved, but not with so good circum-
stance, he shall purchase more honour than
by affecting a matter of greater difficulty, or
virtue, wherein he is but a follower. If a man
so temper his actions, as in some one of them
he doth content every faction or combination
of people, the music will be the fuller. A man
is an ill husband of his honour that entereth
into any action, the failing wherein may dis-
grace him more than the carrying of it through
can honour him. Honour that is gained and
broken upon another hath the quickest reflec-

246

lion, like diamonds cut with fasccts ; and,
therefore, let a man contend to excel any com-
petitors of his in honour, in out-shooting them
if he can in their own bow. Discreet fol-
lowers and servants help much to reputation ;
*^ Omnis fania a domesticis emanat." Envy,
which is the canker of honour, is best distin-
guished by declaring a man's self in his ends,
rather to seek merit than fame : and by at-
tributing a man's succestcs rather to divine
Providence and felicity, than to his own vir-
tue or policy. The true marshalling of the
degrees of sovereign honour are these : m the
first place are " conditores imperiorum," foun-
ders of states and commonwealths ; such as
were Romulus, Cyrus, Cyesar, Ottoman, Is-
mael : in the second place are ^^ legislatores,^
lawgivers ; which are also called second foun-
ders, or ^^ perpetui principes," because they
govern by their ordinances after they are gone ;
such were Lycurgus, Solon, Justinian, Edgar,
Alphonsus of Castile, the wise, that made the
^^ Siete patridas :" in the third place are " li-
*^' beratores," or " salvatores ;" such as com'
pound the long miseries of civil wars, or de-
liver their countries from servitude of strangers

247

or tyrants ; as Augustus Cciesar, Vespasianus,
Aurelianus, Theodoricus, king Henry the sev-
enth of England, king Henry the fourth of
France : in the fourth place are " propaga-
^^ tores," or " propugnatores imperii ;" such as
in honourable wars enlarge their territories, or
make noble defence against invaders : and in
the last place, are " patres patriae," which
reign justly, and make the times good whereia
they live ; both which last kinds need no
examples, they are in such number. Degrees
of honour in subjects are first, " participes cu-
^^ rarum," those upon whom princes do dis-
charge the greatest weight of their affairs ;
their right hands, as we call them : the next
are, " duces belli," great leaders ; such as are
princes lieutenants, and do theni notable ser-
vices in the wars ; the third are, ^^ gratiosi,"
favourites ; such as exceed not this scantling,
to be solace to the sovereign, and harmless to
the people : and the fourth, ^^ negotiis pares ;•*
such as have great places under princes, an4
execute their places witli sufficiency. There
is an honour, likewise, which may be ranked
amongst the a:rtiatest, which happeneth rarely ;
that is, of sue. 1 as sacrifice themselves to death

Y

248

or danger for the good of their country ; as
was ^I. Kegulus, and the two Decii.

OF JUDICATURE.

Judges ought to remember that their office is
^' jus dicere," and not "jus dare,;" to inter-
pret law, and not to make law, or give law :
else will it be like the authority claimed by
the church of Rome ; which, under pretext of
exposition of scripture, doth not stick to add
and alter ; and to pronounce that which they
do not find, and by shew of antiquity intro-
duce novelty. Judges ought to be more learn-
ed than witty, more reverend than plausible,
and more advised than confident. Above all
things, integrity is their portion and proper vir-
tue. Cursed, (saith the law,) " Is he that re-
" moveth the landmark." The mislayer of a
mere stone is to blame; but it is the unjust
judge that is the capital remover of landmarks
when he defineth amiss of lands and property.
One foul sentence doth more hurt than m ny
foul examples ; for these do but corrupt the
stream, the other corrupteth the fountain : so

249

saith Solomon ; " Fons turbatus, et vena cor^
<^ rupta est Justus cadens in causa sua coram
'^ adversario." The office of judges may have
reference unto tlie parties that sue, unto the
advocates that plead, unto the clerks and minis-
ters of justice underneath them, and to the
sovereign or state above them.

First, for the causes or parties that sue.
There be, (saith the scripture,) " that turn
*^ judgment into wormwood;" and surely there
be also that turn it into vinegar ; for injustice
jnaketh it bitter, and delays make it sour.
The principal duty of a judge, is to suppress
force and fraud ; whereof force is the more
pernicious when it is open; and fraud wheii^
it is close and disguised. Add thereto con-
tentious suit«;, which ought to be spewed out,
as the surfeit of courts. A judge ought to pre-
pare his way to a just sentence, as God usethr
to prepare his way, by raising valleys and tak-
ing down hills : so when there appeareth on
either side an high hand, violent prosecution,
cunning advantages taken, combination, power,
great counsel, then is the virtue of a judge
seen to make inequality equal ; that he may
plant his judgment as upon an even grounds

250

'*^ Qui forliter cmiuigit, elicit sanguinem ;" and
where the wine-prt'hs is hard wrought, it yields
a harsh wine that tastes of the grape-stone.
Judges must beware of hard constructions, and
atrained inferences ; for there is no worse tor"
ture than the torture of laws : especially in
case of laws penal, they ought to have care^,
that that, wliich was meant for terror, be not
turned into rigour ; and that they bring not
iipon the people that shower whereof the scrip-
ture speaketh, " Pluet super eos laqueos ;" for
penal laws pressed,, are a shower of snares up-
on the people : therefore let penal laws, if they
iiave been sleepers of long, or if they be grown
unfit for the present time, be by wise judges
confined in the execution ; *^Judicis officium est,.
*^ ut res^ ita tempora rerum," &c. In causes
of life and death judges ought, (as far as the
law permitteth,) in justice to remember mercy,
and to cast a severe eye upon the example^,,
but a merciful eye upon- the person.

Secondly, for the advocates and counsel that
plead. Patience and gravity of hearing is an
essential part of justice ; and an overspeaking
judge is no well tuned cymbal. It is no grace
to a judge first to find that which he might

25 r

have heard in due time from the bar ; or to
shew quickness of conceit in cutting off evi-
dence or counsel too short ; or to prevent in-
formation by questions, though pertinent. The
parts of a judge in hearing are four : to direct
the evidence ; to moderate length, repetition,
or impertinency of speech ; to recapitulate,
select, and collate the material points of that
which hath been said ; and to give the rule
or sentence. Whatsoever is above these is
too much, and proceedeth either of glory and
willingness to speak, or of impatience to hear,
or of shortness of memory, or of want of a
stayed and equal attention. It is a strange
thing to £?e that the boldness of advocates
should prevail with judges ; whereas they
should imitate God, in whose seat they sit ;
who represseth the presumptuous, and giveth
grace to the modest : but it is more strange,
that judges should have noted favourites, which
cannot but cause multiplication of fees, and
suspicion of by-ways. There is due from the
judge to the advocate some commendation and
gracing where causes are well handled and
fair pleaded, especially towards the side which
obtaineth not ; for that upholds in the client
Y 2:

2^2

the reputation of his counsel, and beats down
in him the conceit of his cause. There is
likewise due to the pubHc a civil reprehension
of advocates where there appeareth cunning
counsel, gross neglect, slight information, in-
discreet pressing, or an over-bold defence ;
and let not the counsel at the bar chop with
the judge, nor wind himself into the handling
of the cause anew after the judge hath declar-
ed his sentence ; but on the other side, let not
the judge meet the cause half way, nor give
occasion to the party to say, his counsel or
proofs were not heard.

Thirdly, for that that concerns clerks and
ministers. The place of justice is an hallowed
place ; and therefore, not only the bench, but
the footpace and precincts and purprise thereof
ought to be preserved without scandal and
corruption ; for, certainly, grapes, (as the scrip-
ture saith,) '' will not be gathered of thorns or
« thistles ;" neither can justice yield her fruit
with sweetness amongst the briars and bram-
bles of catching and polling clerks and minis-
ters. The attendance of courts is subject to
four bad instruments : first, certain persons
that are sowers of suitS;, which make the court

253

swell, and the country pine : the second sort
is of those, that engage courts in quarrels of
jurisdiction, and are not truly " amici curiae,"
but ^^ parasiti curit«," in puffing a court up be-
yond her bounds for their own scraps and ad-
vantages : the third sort is of those that may
be accounted the left hands of courts ; persons
that are full of nimble and sinister tricks and
shifts, whereby they pervert the plain and di-
rect courses of courts, and bring justice into
oblique lines and labyrinths : and the fourth is
the poller and exacter of fees ; which justifies
the common resemblance of the courts of jus-
tice to the bush, whereunto while the sheep
flies for defence in weather, he is sure to lose
part of the fleece. On the other side, an an-
cient clerk, skilful in precedents, wary in pro-
ceeding,and understanding in the business of the
court, is an excellent figure of a court,and doth
many times point the way to the judge him-
^If. ^

Fourthly, for that which may concern the
sovereign and estate. Judges ought, above all,
to remember the conclusion of the Roman
twelve tables ; " Salus populi suprema lex ;"
and to know that laws, except they be in order

254

to that end, are but things captious, and ora-
cles not well in.^pired : therefore it is an happy
thing in a state when kings and states do often
consult with judges : and again, when judges
do often consult with the king and state: the
ene, when there is matter of law intervenient
in business of state ; the otiier when there is
some consideration of state intervenient in mat-
ter of law : for many times, the things deduced
to judgment may be " meum" and " tuum,"
when the reason and consequence thereof may
trench to point of estate : I call matter of
estate, not only the parts of sovereignty, but
whatsoever ijitroduceth any great alteration,
or dangerous precedent ; or concerneth mani-
festly any great portion of people : and let no
man weakly conceive that just laws, and true
policy have any antipathy ; for they are like
the spirits and sinews, that one moves with the
other. Let judges also remember, .that Solo-
mon's throne was supported by lions on both
sides : let them be lions, but yet lions under
the throne ; being circnmspect that they do
not check or oppose an} points of sovereignty.
Let not judges also be so ignorant of their own
right, as to think there is not left to them^ as a

255

principal part of their office, a wi^ use and
application of laws ; for they may remember
what the Apostle saith of a greater law than
theirs ; " Nos scimus quia lex bona est, modo
^^ quis ea utatur legitime."

OF ANGER.

To seek to extinguish anger utterly is but a
bravery of the Stoics. We have better ora-
cles : " Be angry, but sin not : let not the sun
^^ go down upon your anger.'' Anger must
be limited and confined, both in race and in
time. We will first speak how the natural in-
clination and habit, " to be angry," may be at-
tempted and calmed ; secondly, how the par-
ticular motions of anger may be repressed, or,^
at least, refrained from doing mischief; thirdly,
how to raise anger, or appease anger in an-
other.

For the first, there is no other way but to
meditate and ruminate well upon the effects
of anger, how it troubles man's life : and the
best time to do this, is to look back upon an-
ger when the fit is thoroughly over. Seneca

saith well, ^^'lliat anger is like rain, whicli
" breaks itself upon that it falls." The scrip-
ture exhorteth us, ^' to possess our souls in
" patience ;" whosoever is out of patience, is
out of possession of his soul. Men must not
turn bees ;

" Aniraasc[ue in vulnere ponunt."

^nger is certainly a kijid of baseness ; as it
appears well in the weakness of those subjects
in whom it reigns : children, women, old folks,
sick folks. Only men must beware that they
carry their anger rather with scorn than with
fear ; so that they may seem rather to be above
the injury than below it ; wiiich is a thing
easily done, if a man will give law to himself
in it.

For the second point, the causes and motives
of anger are chiefly three : first, to be too sen-
sible of hurt ; for no man is angry that feels
not himself hurt ; and, therefore, tender and
delicate persons must needs be oft angry, they
have so many things to trouble them, which
more robust natures have little sense of: the
next is, the apprehension and construction of
the injury offered to be^ in the circumstances

257

therefore, full of contempt : for contempt is that
which putteth an edge upon anger as much
or more than the hurt itself ; and, therefore,
when men are ingenious in picking out circum-
stances of contempt, they do kindle their anger
much : lastly, opinion of the touch of a man's
reputation doth multiply and sharpen anger ;
\vherein the remedy is that a man should have,
as Gonsalvo was wont to say, " telara
** honoris crassiorem." But in all refrainings of
anger it is the best remedy to win time, and
to make a man's self believe that the opportu-
nity of his revenge is not yet come ; but that
he-foresees a time for it, and so to still himself
in the mean time, and reserve it.

To contain anger from mischief, though it
take hold of a man, there be two things where-
of you must have special caution : the one, of
extreme bitterness of words, especially if they
be aculeate and proper ; for '^ communia male-
*' dicta" are nothing so much ; and again, that
in anger a man reveal no secrets ; for that makes
him not fit for society : the other, that you do
not peremptorily break off in any business in a
fit of anger ; but howsoever you shew bitter-
iiess, do not act any thing that is not revocable.

258

For raising and appeasing anger in another,
it is done chiefly by choosing of times, when
men are forwardest and worst disposed to in-
cense them ; again, by gathering, (as was
touched before,) all that you can find out to
aggravate the contempt : and the two remedies
are by the contraries : the former to take
good times, when first to relate to a man
an angry business, for the first impression is
much ; and the other is, to sever, as much as
may be, the construction of the injury from the
point of contempt ; imputing it to misunder-
standing, fear, pa^^sion, or what you will.

OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS.

Solomon saith, " there is no new thing upon
<* the earth ;" so that as Plato had an imagi-
nation that all knowledge was but remem-
brance ; so Solomon giveth his sentence, " that
« all novelty is but oblivion ;" whereby you
may see, that the river of Lethe runneth as
well above ground as below. There is an ab-
struse astrologer that saith, if it were not for
two things that are constant, (the one is.

259

that the fixed stars ever stand at like distance
cne from another, and never come nearer to-
gether nor go farther asunder; the other, that
the diurnal motion perpetually keepeth time,)
110 individual would last one moment : certain
it is, that the matter is in a perpetual flux, and
never at a stay. The great winding-sheets that
bury all things in oblivion are two ; deluges
and earthquakes. As for conflagrations and
great droughts, they do not merely dispeople,
but destroy. Phaeton's car \vent but a day;
and the three year's drought, in the times of
Elias, was but particular, and left people alive.
As for the great burnings by lightnings, which
are often in the West Indies, tiiey are but nar-
row ; but in the other two dtstructions, by
deluge and earthquake, it is farther to be no-
ted that the remnant of people, which hap to
be reserved,are commonly ignorant and moun-
tainous people, that can give no account of
the time past ; so that the oblivion is all one,
as if none had been left. If you consider well
of the people of the West In.iits, it is very
probable that they are a newer, or a younger
people than the people of the old world ;
and it is much more likely, that the destcuc-
z

260

iitcm, tliat hath heretofore been there, was n<^
by earthquakes, (as the Egyptian priest told
Solon, concerning the island of Atlantis, that it
was swallowed by an earthquake,) but rather,
that it was desolated by a particular deluge ^
for earthquakes are seldom in those parts : but
on the other side, they have such pouring riv-
ers, as the rivers of Asia, and Africa, and Eu-
rope, are but brooks to them. Their Andes
likewise, or mountains, are far higher than
those with us ; whereby it seems, that the rem-
nants of generation of men were, in such a
particular deluge, saved. As for the observa-
tion that Machiavel hath, that the jealousy of
sects doth much extinguish the memory of
things ; traducing Gregory the Great, that he
did what in him lay to extinguish all heathen
antiquities ; I do not find that those zeals do
any great effects, nor last long : as it appear-
ed in the succession of Sabinian, who did re-
vive the former antiquities.

The vicissitude or mutations in the superior
globe, are no fit matter for this present argu-
ment. It may be Plato's great year, ii the
world should last so long, would have some
effect, not in renewing the state of like indi-

261

viduals, (for that is the fume of those that
conceive the celestial bodies have more ac-
curate influences upon these things below, than
indeed they have,) but in gross. Comets,
out of question, have likewise power and ef-
fect over the gross and mass of things : but
they are rather gazed upon, and waited upon
in their journey, than wisely observed in their
effects ; especially in their respective effects ;
that is, what kind of comet, for magnitude, co-
lour, version of the beams, placing in the re-
gion of heaven, or lasting, produceth what
kind of effects.

There is a toy, which I have heard, and I
would not have it given over, but waited upon
a little. They say it is observed in the Low
Countries, (I know not in what part,) that
every five and thirty years the same kind and
suit of years and weathers comes about again;
as great frosts, great wet, great droughts, wariiL
winters, summers with little h€at, and the like ;
and they call it the prime : it is a thing I do
the rather mention, because, computing back-
wards, I have found some concurrence.

But to leave these points of nature, and to
eome to men. The greatest vicissitude of

262

things amongst men, is the vicissitude of secte.-
and religions ; for those orbs rule in men's minds
most. The true religion is built upon the rock ;
the rest are tossed upon the waves of time.
To speak therefore of the causes of new sects,
and to give some counsel concerning them, as
far as the weakness of human judgment caa
give stay to so great revolutions.

When the religion formerly received is rent
by discords; and when the holiness of the
professors of religion is decayed and full of
scandal ; and withal the times be stupid, ig-
norant, and barbarous, you may doubt the
springing up of a new sect : if then also there
should arise any extravagant and strange spir-
it to make himself author thereof; all. which
points held when Mahomet published his law.
If a new sect have not two properties, fear it
not, for it w'ill not spread : the one is the sup-
]>lanting, or the opposing of authority estab-
lished ; for nothing is more popular than
that ; the other is the giving license to plea-
sures and a voluptuous life : for as for specu-
lative heresies, (such as were in ancient time.s
the Arians, and now the Arminians,) though
they work mightily upon men's wits,,yet. they

26^

do not prodtice any great alterations in stiites- r
except It be by the help of civil occasions.
There be three manner of plantations of new
sects : by the power of signs and miracles; by
the eloquence and wisdom of speech and per-
suasion ; and by the sword. For martyrdoms,
I reckon them amongst miracles ; because they
seem to exceed the strength of human nature 5
and I may do the like of superlative and ad-
mirable holiness of life. Surely there is no
better way to stop the rising of new sects and
schisms, than to reform abuses ; to compound
the smaller differences ; to proceed mildly, and
not with sanguinary persecutions ; and rather
to take off the principal authors, by winning
and advancing them, then to enrage them by
Tiolence and bitterness.

The changes and vicissitude in wars are
many ; but chiefly in three things ; in the seats
or stages of the war, in the weapons, and in
the manner of the conduct. Wars, in ancient
time, seemed more to move from east to west ;
for the Persians, Assyrians, Arabians, Tartars^.
-{which were the invaders,) were all eastern
people. It is true, the Gauls were western ;
but we read but of two incursion? oftheirs i
7.2

264

the one to Gallo-Grsecia, the other to Rome :
but east and west have no certain points of
heaven ; and no more have the wars, either
from the east or west, any certainty of obser-
vation : but north and south are fixed ; and it
hath seldom or never been seen that the far
southern people have invaded the northern, but
contrariwise ; whereby it is manifest, that the
northern tract of the world is in nature the
more martial region ; be it in respect of the
Stars of that hemisphere;^ or of the great conti-
nents that are upon the north ; whereas the
south part, for aught that is known, is almost
all sea ; or, (which is most apparent,) of the
cold of the northern parts, which is that,which^
without aid of discipline, doth make the bodies
hardest, and the courage warmest.

Upon the breaking and shivering of a great
State and empire, you may be sure to hav€
wars ; for great empires, while they stand, do
enervate and destroy the forces of the natives
which they have subdued, restmg upon their
ow^n protecting forces ; and then, when they
^fail also, all goes to ruin, and they become a
prey ; so it was in the decay of the Roman
empire^ and likewise in the empire of Al-

265

maigne, after Charles the Great, every bird
taking a feather ; and were not unlike to be-
fal to Spain, if it should break. The great
accessions and unions of kingdoms do likewiss
stir up wars : for when a state grows to an
over power, it is like a great flood that will
be sure to overflow ; as it hath been seen
in the states of Rome, Turkey, Spain, and
others. Look when the world hath fewest
barbarous people, but such as commonly will
not marry or generate except they know means
to live, (as it is almost every where at this
day, except Tartary,) there is no danger of
inundations of people : but when there be
great shoals of people, which go on to popu-
late without foreseeing means of life and sus-
tentation, it is of necessity that once in an age
or two they discharge a portion of their peo-
ple upon other nations, which the ancient
northern people were wont to do by lot ; cast-
ing lots what part should stay at home, and
what should seek their fortunes. When a
warlike state grows soft and effeminate, they
may be sure of a war : for commonly suck
estates are grown rich in the time of their dc-

266

generating ; and so the prey inviteth, and theif
decay in valour encourageth a war.

As for the weapons, it hardly falleth under
rule and observation ; yet we see even they
have returns and vicissitudes ; for certain it is^
that ordnance was known in the city of the
Oxydraces in India ; and was that which the
Macedonians called thunder and lightning and
magic ; and it is well known that the use of
ordnance hath been in China above two thou-
sand years. The conditions of weapons and
their improvement are, first, the fetching afar
off; for that outruns the danger, as it is seen
in ordnance and muskets : secondly, the
strength of the percussion ; wherein likewise
ordnance do exceed all arietations, and ancient
inventions : the third is, the commodious use
of them ; as that they may serve in all weath-
ers ; that the carriage may be light and man-
ageable, and the like.

For the conduct of the war : ' at the firsts
men rested extremely upon number : they did
put the wars likewise upon main force and
valour, pointing days for pitched fields, and so
trying it upon an even match ; and they were

267

more ignorant in ranging and arraying their
battles. After they grew to rest upon num-
ber, rather competent than vast ; they grew
to advantages of place, cunning diversion?, and
the like ; and they grew more skilful in the or-
dering of their battles.

In the youth of a state, arms do flourish ; in
the middle age of a state, learning ; and then
both of them together for a time : in the de-
clining age of a state, mechanical arts and
merchandize. Learning hath its infancy, when
it is but beginning, and almost childish; then
its youth, when it is luxuriant and juvenile ;
then its strength of years, when it is solid and
reduced ; and lastly, its old age, when it wax-
eth dry and exhaust : bij.t it is not good to look
too long upon these turning wheels of vicissi-
tude, lest we become giddy : as for the philolc«
gy of them, that is but a circle of tales and
therefore not fit for this writing..

268

A i^RAGMENT OF AN ESSAY OF FAME.

The poets make Fame a monster; they de-
scribe her in part finely and elegantly, and in
part gravely and sententiously : they say. Look
how many feathers she hath, so many eyes she
hath underneath, so many tongues, so many
voices, she pricks up so many ears.

This is a flourish : there follow excellent
parables ; as that she gathereth strength in
going ; that she goeth upon the ground, and
yet hideth her head in the clouds ; that in the
day-time she sitteth in a watch-tower, and
flyeth most by night ; that she mingleth things
done with things not done ; and that she is a
terror to great cities : but that which passeth
all the rest is, they do recount that the earth,
mother of the giants that made war against
Jupiter and were by him destroyed, thereupon
in anger brought forth fame ; for certain it is,
that rebels, figured by the giants and seditious
fames and libels, are but brothers and sisters,
masculine and feminine : but now if a man
can tame this monster^ and bring her to feed

269

at the hand, and govern her, and with her fly
other ravening fowl and kill them, it is some-
what worth : but we are infected with the
style of the poets. To speak now in a sad and
serious manner : there is not in all the politics
a place less handled, and more worthy to be
handled, than this of fame ; we will therefore
speak of these points : what are false fames ;
and what are true fames ; and how they may
be best discerned ; how fames may be sown
and raised ; how they may be spread and mul-
tiplied ; and how they may be checked and
laid dead ; and otiier things concerning the
nature of fame. Fame is of that force, as
there is scarcely any gi<sat Qr.tion where hi it
hath not a great part, especially in the war.
Mucianus undid Vitellius by a fame that he
scattered ; that Vitellius had in purpose to re-
move the legions of Syria into Germany, and
the legions of Germany into Syria ; whereupon
the legions of Syria were infinitely inflamed.
Julius Coesar took Pompey unprovided, and
laid asleep his industry and preparations by a
fame that he cunningly gave out, how Ciesar's
own soldiers loved him not ; and bemg weari-
ed with the wars and laden with the spoils of

270

Gaul, would forsake him as soon as he came
into Italy. Livia settled all things for the suc-
cession of her son Tiberius by continually giv-
ing out, that her husband Augustus was upon
recovery and amendment ; and it is an usual
thing with the bashavvs_, to conceal the death
cf the gre^at Turk from the Janizaries and men
of war to save the sacking of Constantinople,
and other towns, as their manner is. Themis-
tocles made Xerxes, king of Persia, post apace
©ut of Gr^jecia, by giving out that the Grae-
cians had a purpose to break his bridge of ships
which he had made athwart the Hellespont.
There be a thousand such like examples, and
the mnrp th(^y Qro the leas ihey need to be re-
peated, because a man meeteth with them ev-
ery where : wherefore let all wise governors
have as great a watch and care over fames,
as they have of the actions and designs them-
selves.

FINIS.

/;•*-.